

m 



$$&*J&^& 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

@§ap §Wig$ !pu 

Shelf ?KA\hZ 

52 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 






■?■- 










THE 



Basic Law 



OF- 



Vocal Utterance 



BMXI^ SUTRO 



0C r . 3 1894 



^^■Lr^ 




\** 



New York 

108 East 16th Street 

EDGAR S. WERNER 

1894 



T*tr 



Copyright 

1894 

BY EMIL SUTEO 



Press of Edgar S. Werner, 108 East 16th Street, New York, 
U. S. A, 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

PRELIMINARY REMARKS 7 

BREATHING 26 

HOW DO WE SPEAK ? 38 

THE DUAL NATURE OF THE VOICE 43 

THE NEW VOCAL CORD 48 

EMPHASIS 60 

TRACHEA AND OESOPHAGUS 63 

THE CIRCULATION OF SOUND— CIRCLES . . 66 

DEFECTIVE SPEECH 75 

EXTENSION AND CONTRACTION OF THE 

ORAL CAVITY 78 

THE MAN WITHOUT A LARYNX ....... 85 

THE SOUND REPRESENTED BY THE LETTER R. 89 

CONSONANTS 98 

SOUND AND NERVES 119 

(5) 



THE BASIC LAW 

OF 

VOCAL UTTERANCE 



PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 



T T is not without a feeling of trepidation that 
I venture to write for publication on a 
subject with which so many eminent scientists 
have battled. 

But I have a message to deliver, entrusted to 
me by the highest authority, that of nature 
itself, and I shall not shrink back irom deliver- 
ing it on account of a deficiency of information 
on some of the subjects intimately connected 
therewith. 

For the same reason, however, I cannot claim 

that all my observations are likely to be in strict 

(7) 



8 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

conformity with established scientific facts, or 
supposed facts. I state only that which I thimk 
is the case, judging by the most conscientious, 
careful, and long-continued personal obser- 
vations. 

Had I called scientists to my aid, I might, in 
some instances, have been more correct, but 
would have lost my originality, which I claim 
for all my observations throughout. These 
observations, on the other hand, I firmly believe 
will open up new avenues in various directions 
for scientific research. 

As far as the voice is concerned, they will 
mark an epoch in history. A new science will 
thereby be inaugurated, which will clear up 
the mystery which has surrounded it, and 
place its phenomena on a scientific basis. 

This publication, in the first instance, is a 
simple recital of my experience in attempting 
to master, and in finally succeeding in master- 
ing, the pronunciation of the English language. 

I have carefully noted, step by step, how I 
drew gradually nearer "to, and finally arrived at, 
this result. I have shown the way I have gone, 



PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 9 

in language free from technicalities, so that all 
may be able to follow and arrive at the same 
result. 

It sounds strange to relate, however, that on 
my way to apparently so simple an end, I 
should have encountered mines, filled with the 
most precious material ever found, for the 
knowledge of voice -production in general. This 
material revealed to me the hidden mechanism 
of the voice, not only of man's voice, but of 
the voice in general. 

I can scarcely call it a discovery, for it was 
more in the nature of a revelation, that that 
should have come to me for which scientists of 
all civilized countries and of all ages have been 
searching in vain. 

I was twenty years of age when I first came 
to this country, — an age at which the organs of 
speech have taken such positive shape for the 
production of the sounds of one's native tongue 
that it is difficult, nay, as I have since learned, 
next to impossible to dislodge them, and to 
produce to perfection those of the tongue of 
another country. 



10 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

Being possessed of a fair book knowledge of 
the English language, I was also ambitions of 
learning to speak it precisely in the same man- 
ner that native born persons speak it. This idea 
took possession of me to such an extent that 
scarcely a day passed on which it was not 
uppermost in my mind. 

How many years, from that time forward, 
I labored, trying to divest myself of my German 
accent in speaking English, I cannot tell, but 
there were a great many. Again and again I 
thought I had succeeded ; and again and again 
always getting a better insight, I found I was 
still far from my cherished aim. 

This continued till within some seven or eight 
years ago, when it suddenly dawned on my all 
but despairing mind that that which I had 
attempted was impossible of accomplishment. 
I became convinced that there were physical 
obstacles in the way, which it was not in my 
power to overcome. 

With this knowledge once firmly settled, I 
abandoned my previous method of attempting 
t-o learn by imitation, which, by the bye, has 



PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 11 

been everybody's method since time immemorial 
and, as far as I know, is everybody's method to 
this day, and commenced to learn by analyza- 
tion. I tried to resolve the English language, 
as far as its pronunciation was concerned, into 
its component parts, and by thus dissecting it 
ascertain how it was put together. 

I cannot say that this thought was with me 
at first. But this is what it came to, after be- 
ginning with finding certain difficulties and 
overcoming them. Then overcoming more dif- 
ficulties till, in the end, all the obstacles that 
had been in my way were removed, and I could 
produce perfect English speech. To be able to 
overcome these difficulties it was, of course, 
necessary to understand them. This was no easy 
task. It took years of thought and close obser- 
vation before I could say I had come to the 
bottom of them. 

I understood, as already remarked, English 
quite well before I came to this country, as far 
as reading and writing it went; and, in the 
course of time, I had also learned to speak it 
quite fluently. This knowledge, however, was 



12 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

in my way, as it is in the way of all foreigners 
who understand the written language. The 
latter is always before their mind's eye, which 
makes their pronunciation so painfully exact 
and, therefore, so studiously incorrect. 

Now, however, I commenced to learn sj)eak- 
ing it over again ; this time as a child does its 
mother -tongue. As I watched this child's prog- 
ress I noticed each step, from the first help- 
less tottering of its limbs to their gradual 
growth in strength, till at last by their aid it 
could walk. 

All studies in connection with the voice have 
been of a twofold nature : (1) To gain a knowl- 
edge of the instrument from which it emanates ; 
and (2) to understand the nature of the result, 
the musical qualities of the voice. Very few, 
however, have made it their object to ascertain 
by what means the voice is evolved from its 
instrument. Unless we know how we play on 
our instrument, know what mechanical means 
are applied to draw sound from it, we cannot 
expect to better our mode of playing. All can 
play by gift of nature. But the question is, how 



PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 13 

are they playing ? The knowledge of the con- 
struction of the instrument, the larynx, on the 
one hand, and of the musical qualities of the 
voice, on the other, will not assist us in 
producing better results. It will not assist a 
foreigner in acquiring the correct speech of 
another land. It will not assist the teacher 
of elocution or of singing in developing his 
pupil's speech or song. It will not correct 
radical faults of enunciation, nor will it help the 
deaf and dumb in their struggles for expression, 
beyond their crude sounds of inharmonious 
speech. 

Most works heretofore written do not contain 
much that one can take hold of and bend to 
one's will, so as to improve one's speech, song, 
or vocal utterance of any kind. Yet the will 
can do so much for us, if we only know just 
what we want it to do for us. It has been 
vouchsafed to me, by getting a better insight 
into the mechanical process by which speech is 
produced, to be able to show how improve- 
ments and good results can be obtained in a 
practical manner. 



14 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

The observations I have made, beyond all 
others, are in connection with the air we nse for 
speech ; and with the movements of the tongue, 
the promoter and regulator of speech. Hence 
the word language, from lingua, tongue. 

For years I have watched this delicate piece 
of mechanism, which is so constructed that it 
works without apparent effort, noise or fric- 
tion. The person in whose body it exists, and 
by whose will it is set in motion, is scarcely 
aware that there is any action at all, although it 
is making countless noiseless movements within 
him. It is ever ready to do the bidding of its 
master, the mind ; and its fatigue must be great, 
indeed, or its illness severe, before it will show 
any sign of disobedience. 

I looked into the workshop of the mouth to 
ascertain why, after its machinery had enabled 
me successfully to produce German speech, it so 
obstinately refused to lend its aid in doing the 
same for me in the production of English speech. 
The impediments I had encountered, and which 
I was trying to overcome, were now of the 
greatest aid to me; inasmuch as they enabled 



PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 15 

me to feel my way along the lines in which 
this delicate yet most lively piece of mechanism, 
the tongue, was moving. I could not have done 
this for my own language, nor could the native 
born of any country have done it for his. It 
was by making a comparative study of mine 
with a foreign tongue alone which enabled me 
to accomplish this. 

There being no difficulties to overcome, the 
machinery moves with such perfection for one's 
own language that its movements, partly on ac- 
count of their rapidity, partly because they are 
involuntary, cannot be watched. They have 
been working thus from our infancy, and, being 
hidden within the inner recess of our mouth, do 
not offer us an opportunity of observing them. 

My tongue, however, was overweighted. It 
halted, and made an effort, when it tried to pro- 
duce these, to it, strange and abnormal sounds. 
This gave me the opportunity of watching it, 
and finding out by what means it finally suc- 
ceeded in producing these sounds. No phy- 
sician, leaning his ear against the breast of his 
patient, ever listened more intently than I 



16 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

listened to the sounds of my voice. With an 
acute ear for sounds, and knowing just what 
was expected of me, I never stopped trying till, 
in guiding my tongue, now hither, now thither, 
I finally hit upon the correct sound. 

While I uo not know, to-day, how my tongue 
moves, .except by induction, for German speech, 
I know precisely what movements it makes for 
the production of English sounds. 

My advantage has been in this, that I could 
watch the machinery while it was in motion ; 
whereas others have observed what there was to 
observe while it was standing still. By ex- 
perimenting upon the larynx of the dead, or by 
thrusting an instrument into that of the living, 
how can it be expected that any reliable move- 
ments should have been observed ? For it is 
action, action all the time that is doing the 
work. So many agents have to cooperate in the 
living body to produce correct results that the 
default of any one of them will .suffice in neu- 
tralizing the proper action of the rest. 

It is by watching the obstructed action of our 
organs that we can expect to be able to obtain 






PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 17 

• 
correct results. I feel satisfied, that with ex- 
treme care and watchfulness the same as I have 
exercised in connection with onr organs of 
speech, correct results can often be obtained 
where now vivisection is resorted to. 

I do not by any means wish to say, however, 
that I consider my work to be complete. The 
light by the aid of which I have obtained a 
glimpse of the silent workshop in which the 
tongue is moving has been but a dim one at 
best, yet it has revealed enough to show the 
way; and those better prepared, by their scien- 
tific and musical knowledge, can now pursue it 
on further toward greater perfection. 

I have been both my teacher and my scholar, 
and there never has been a more patient 
teacher or a more industrious scholar. During 
long and tedious rides in the street-cars which I 
was daily obliged to make, this scholar was my 
constant companion. During the silent hours of 
the night when sleep would not come, he was 
lying awake with me, listening to me, and try- 
ing to obey my most dictatorial commands. I 
have been pleased with his industry and his 



18 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

progress, and tliat is saying a great deal, for 
I am a most exacting taskmaster, 

It is this advantage that my method lias, that 
the principle, once understood, Ave can carry 
an entire dictionary with ns in onr heads, and 
be constantly learning the pronunciation of the 
words, at any time and upon every occasion. 
We can practice singing in the same way, not 
aloud, but in an undertone sufficiently distinct, 
however, to make us feel whether we are correct 
or not. 

Mine is the natural method of learning to 
speak a language ; others are by imitation only. 
Where a solid foundation is wanting, there can- 
not be a satisfactory edifice. Mine is the solid 
foundation ; that of others, a veiy unsatisf actory 
structure without foundation in principle. 

German-English dictionaries generally use 
German characters to give the English pro- 
nunciation. This is very misleading, there being 
no equivalent for German sounds in the English 
language, as they are different both in their 
origin and in their nature. 

Anyone in the least acquainted with the 



PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 19 

true pronunciation will know that the same 
is far from being correct, when hot is rep- 
resented by ■ ; hat ; ' ' when pale is spelled 
"pelil;" village, " villedsch ; " her, "horr;" 
busy, ' ' hizsi ; ' ' clothes, ' ■ kloss ; ' ' whose, 
' ' huss ; ' ' whole, c ' hohl ; ' ' voice, ' ' vauzs ; ' ' 
who , ' ' hull ; ' ' wrestle , ' ' r oss ' 1 ; " German , 
' ' dschorman ; ' ' suggest, • ' sogdschesst ; ' ' anx- 
ious, ' ' ahnkschoss ; ' ' etc. 

But why continue when it is impossible ex- 
actly to render one word, even the simplest, by 
any sign or letter in the German language ? 

I have taken the preceding at random from 
a key to the correct pronunciation of English, 
contained in one of the best guides in existence, 
and but lately published. Others are worse ; 
some of them actually bordering on the ridic- 
ulous. Still the above rendering probably 
comes as near to the solution aimed at as the 
German language is capable of. In this or a 
similar manner Germans and other foreigners 
are taught to pronounce English wherever their 
countrymen teach it, and it is rare that, outside 



20 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

of the countries in which English is spoken, 
anyone else teaches it. 

Everyone who has been taught to speak Eng- 
lish in this imitative manner must again unlearn 
it, before he can begin to speak it correctly. 
Teachers, above all, should study these funda- 
mental principles, and possess themselves of an 
' ' English tongue, ' ' without which it is im- 
possible to teach the correct pronunciation. 

Germans learning English with a German 
tongue, must twist their tongues into all manner 
of unnatural shapes while attempting to pro- 
duce these, to them, strange and abnormal 
sounds. A language to be well spoken must be 
spoken with ease, in a natural manner, and 
without an effort, and this can be done only 
when the same mechanical means are employed 
that are used by native-born persons. 

It will be objected that it is just my system 
which requires one's tongue to be twisted in an 
unnatural manner. I can only reply that, if 
this is so, it is not done at haphazard, but ac- 
cording to principles, and for the purpose of 
bringing about correct results. Once accom- 



PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 21 

plished, it soon becomes natural and requires no 
further effort. With a child whose organs of 
speech are still plastic, no effort is required to 
speak a foreign language. Its instinct will lead 
it into the right path at once, and its organs of 
speech offer no obstacles that cannot be readily 
overcome. These organs, once having assumed 
shape in a definite direction, however, largely 
dictated by habit, it becomes a matter of con- 
siderable difficulty to give them shape in an- 
other direction. This is greatly aggravated in 
case of a default of the knowledge of the action 
really required of them. This knowledge I pro- 
pose to supply, having made a careful study of. 
the mechanical means employed in producing 
both the German and the English languages. 

While my studies have been confined to these 
languages, there is no reason to doubt but simi- 
lar results might be obtained in respect to any 
other language. So that, in the end, the pro- 
nunciation of all languages could be taught ac- 
cording to the natural method. It is easier for 
an English-speaking person, however, to learn 
German than it is for a German to learn Eng- 



22 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

lisli; if it were but for the reason that each 
letter in German represents a given sound, 
while English vowel sounds, as represented by 
letters, are a very uncertain quantity, indeed. 

The mechanical difficulties a German has to 
overcome in speaking English, an English- 
speaking person, of course, must acquire in 
order to enable him to speak German correctly. 

Understanding the mechanical requirements 
for the correct pronunciation of English, I have 
carefully applied them to my speech; and I 
seriously doubt whether there ever has been 
another person who has learned to speak a lan- 
o'uao-e in a similar manner to that in which I 
have learned to speak English. 

Our native tongue is part and parcel of our 
being. It is so intangible that we cannot grasp 
it and lay hold of it for the purpose of dissect- 
ino- it. What I have done for the English lan- 
oriao-e, therefore, I never could have done for 
my own. 

It is not without* reason, therefore, that 
people are named for the language they speak : 
Germans, Frenchmen, Englishmen, Dutchmen, 



PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 23 

etc'. They retain this cognomen even after they 
have left the country of their birth and have 
become citizens of another. Their language is 
synonymous with their being, and they cannot 
dispossess themselves of it and possess them- 
selves of another to the same perfect degree, 
any more than they can change the features of 
their face. 

Even after my system shall be perfectly 
understood, it will be given to but comparatively 
few to learn to speak a foreign tongue with the 
same perfect ease that they do their own. It is 
no more likely, then, that the popular fancy, 
that English will some day become the language 
of the world, will be realized, than that Ethio- 
pians or Mongolians will eventually become 
identified with the Caucasian race. 

Before closing these remarks and entering 
upon my theme proper, I beg to be permitted 
to say that I have been obliged so frequently to 
use the terms ' ' English-speaking people, ' ' or 
"Englishmen," and "Americans," to which, 
to be quite correct, should be added - ' Cana- 
dians, " ' c Australasians, " " East Indians, 5 ' etc. , 



24 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

that I have substituted therefor the word ' ' An- 
glicans," as representative of people who speak 
the English language. This word I shall make 
use of hereafter. 

I also want to say that, regarding the pro- 
nunciation of the English language or pecu- 
liarities connected therewith, I have reference 
only to the manner in which it is spoken in this 
country. 

Unless the German language is specially 
mentioned, every remark has reference to the 
English language only. I also beg to say, 
that whatever merit, or demerit also, may belong 
to the contents of this publication, they are 
originally mine, having consulted no person, or 
work, in connection therewith. It was only 
after my system had assumed the shape in which 
it appears now, that I looked up some of the 
authorities; but I have not found that anyone 
has pursued the same course of studies that I 
have. 

If there are repetitions in this little book, I 
must be forgiven for them. They are not in- 
serted to swell its volume, but to make my 



PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 25 

meaning more clear. They are not repetitions, 
however, in a literal sense ; but, like the facets 
of a diamond, which show its value from differ- 
ent points of view, or like the photograph of 
a beloved face which has been taken from various 
standpoints, each giving the same general 
features — they throw light on my subject from 
different sides, revealing, I hope, new features 
and new points of interest in every instance. 

Finally, I want to add to what I have already 
said in the beginning, that this is not a scientific 
book in the strict sense of the word. I am a 
simple citizen, and not only give my experience 
and whatever knowledge I may possess, but also 
take the reader into my confidence in regard to 
my suppositions, my thoughts, and my feelings 
even in the most unscientific and unconventional 
manner. 

As I owe no debt to anyone, except to those 
who may take the trouble to read this book, I 
hope they will forgive me for the manner in 
which I am dealing with my subject, and with 
them ; and I also hope that I shall not be held 
to account too strictly for any faults of fact or of 
judgment. 



BREATHING. 

TT lias always been believed, and, so far as I 
know, it is still generally believed, that the 
air, or "breath, ' ' Ave use for our speech is drawn 
from our lungs; that the air we inhale into our 
lungs through our nose or mouth, during the 
act of expiration furnishes the motive power for 
our speech. 

I have ascertained that breathing through the 
nose, for the purpose of supplying our lungs 
with life-giving air, or occasionally through the 
mouth for the same purpose, is a distinctly 
different proceeding from the one by which our 
organs of speech are furnished with air for the 
production of sound. Breathing for speech is 
carried on through our mouth while we are in 
the act of sjjeahing. Even for nasal sounds we 
draw on the breath inhaled through the mouth, 
and do not interfere with that which is inhaled 
through the nose, all of which goes to supply 



(2G) 



BREATHING. 27 

If this were not the case, the vital function 
of supplying our lungs with fresh air would be 
constantly interfered with, through our speech. 
The same would cause a pause, be it ever so 
short, in expiration; consequently, a similar 
pause would arise between the previous and the 
next inspiration. Breathing, in consequence, 
during speech would be a very unreliable factor. 

There is no connection between the two, how- 
ever, each performing its function without any 
reference to the other, and without interfering 
with each other. 

It seems strange, yet it is no doubt true, that 
while we are in the act of speaking breathing 
through the nose is carried on as regularly as it 
is in our sleep. While the act of breathing for 
our lungs is regular and measured, generally 
long drawn out, breathing for speech is irregu- 
lar, generally short, and is subject to the re- 
quirements of all the whims and fancies of 
language. 

In breathing for speech we take in just enough 
air for the production of any one given sound. 
If there is to be an emphasis, an additional vol- 



28 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

lime of air is absorbed to produce this emphasis. 
If a sound is to be spoken low, the volume of 
air will be correspondingly small. 

It appears to me that the air we use for speech 
never enters our lungs ; but, being inhaled and 
exhaled, respectively, for the special purpose of 
producing sound only, it simply supplies the 
organs of speech with the necessary air to pro- 
duce sound, the same volume of air inhaled for 
speech being also exhaled for this purpose. 

In breathing for the lungs, in like manner, 
the same volume of air which is inhaled into the 
same is also exhaled from the same. In teach- 
ing correct breathing for speech or song, there- 
fore, care must be taken to do so for the breath 
we inhale through the mouth for the production 
of sound, and not for that which we inspire for 
the lungs. 

It is popularly believed that speech is carried 
on by a continuous ' ' stream ' ' of air coming 
from the lungs ; or that a large volume is inhaled 
into the lungs and kept there as a reservoir, 
from which to draw for speech or song. If it 
were a " stream," and part of it were used for 



BREATHING. 29 

speech, causing a disturbance in respiration, how 
could there be a " constant ' ' stream ? The 
inspiration, as well as the expiration, would be 
a ' ' perturbed ' ' stream, at best. If it were a 
c ' reservoir ' ' holding enough air to cany one 
through a speech or a song, the lungs would 
soon be in a sorry plight for want of fresh air, 
as that which remains in the ' ' reservoir ' ' after 
the first few notes would be deprived of its 
oxygen, and the speaker or singer would drop 
down dead before he could finish his speech or 
song. 

If, on the other hand, one should stop every 
time the necessity arose for replenishing " it " 
with fresh air, there would be constant interrup- 
tion in our utterances, and no continued flow of 
sound would be possible. That which is ex- 
haled for speech, consequently, must have been 
previously inhaled for speech, and for that pur- 
pose only. The same as that which is exhaled 
from our lungs must have been previously in 
haled into our lungs, and for their benefit only. 

It does not seem reasonable, furthermore, to 
suppose that the air, after having been deprived 



30 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

of its main component part, should be used in 
its vitiated form to produce sound. Nor does 
it seem reasonable that it should not be expelled 
from the body, after having thus been used in 
the shortest time, or in the most direct manner 
possible. 

How the two streams of air are kept separate, 
while using one and the same channel, is to be 
explained in this manner : that the air Ave use 
for speech, having a greater velocity than that 
which we inhale into our lungs, its rapidity of 
motion enables it to pass the other "bodily," 
without interfering witli it or being interfered 
with by it. Its motion must, of necessity, be 
rapid to enable it to produce sound. Even for 
the production of the weakest sounds, its ra- 
pidity is greater than that which with a sluggish 
motion is inhaled and exhaled respectively for 
the lungs. The air we use for speech is of that 
same meteoric kind that sparks are when we 
stir the fire in a grate. It bears the same rela- 
tion to the air we breathe for our lungs that 
these sparks do to the fire. Their velocity and 
density are far greater, while their duration is 



BREATHING. 31 

but for the moment. Even with these air- 
sparks, however, there is a difference as to these 
qualities, — velocity, volume, and duration, — the 
same being regulated by those which we desire 
the sounds we are about to produce to possess. 
The voice may be likened to a string-instru- 
ment. Others have, perhaps, more accurately, 
in some respects, likened it to a reed-instru- 
ment; but a string- instrument will better illus- 
trate my idea. The separate streams of air we 
inspire and expire respectively for the produc- 
tion of sounds are, in many respects, of the same 
order that strings are in a string-instrument^ 
They differ in thickness and in length ; and 
the waves of air they set in motion differ in 
volume and rapidity. Some of them reach down 
as far as it is possible for them to reach, while 
some are of medium and others of short length. 
Hence we say, sounds come from the stomach, 
the breast, or the head ; each expression repre- 
senting a different length of string of air or of 
sound. But they are not positive, nor stationary. 
They come and they go ; they lengthen and they 
shorten ; they swell to mighty dimensions, or 



32 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

they disappear altogether; not suddenly, but 
slowly and by degrees, as their ruler, the mind, 
may command. 

As the master of a musical instrument repre- 
sents his emotions by the sounds he draws from 
its strings, so will the singer or the speaker 
draw the music lingering in his soul out of 
these living strings. Through them others speak 
to our hearts, or in other moods overpower us 
with grief, or fill us with anger. At times the 
"strings 1 ' suddenly contract, at other times 
they expand almost ready to burst. Sometimes, 
they are filled with a soft, elastic fluid, and 
again they may be as dry as a cinder. They are 
suspended from our hearts and our souls, whose 
throbbings, longings and thoughts they interpret 
to ourselves and to others. 

After giving an account of these air or sound 
strings or cords, the question still remains to 
be answered : How do they originate ? What 
gives these streams of air this power, this velo- 
city with which, by forcing their way through 
narrowed passages, they produce sound ? What 
is the power which enables birds and insects to 



BREATHING. 33 

produce sounds apparently far beyond their 
physical strength ? 

The answer is, that the sounds do not originate 
within ourselves, but beyond us. They have 
their origin in the air which surrounds all 
beings, — man, birds and insects. 

By creating a vacuum in the air- channels, 
through expiration, the exterior air is forcibly 
drawn into them. By our minds working on 
our will-power, the latter, by the aid of said 
vacuum, creates a draught, an exterior stream of 
air which is set in motion toward the oral cavity. 
This exterior draught possesses already in a man- 
ner the necessary qualifications for the produc- 
tion of the sound which the singer's or speaker's 
mind intended to create. 

In ordinary speech this is a proceeding which 
is altogether automatic ; but in speech produced 
artistically, such as oratory, or song, especially 
in the latter, the mind anticipates the result. 

It is inspiration, therefore, which gives the 
first impetus to sound, which is its creator, the 
cause ; expiration is but the effect, the result. 
We must teach how to inspire correctly ; correct 



34 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

expiration will then follow as a matter of course. 

It is in the great realm of air outside of the 
body where this force is created, not in the 
lungs, nor by a stream emanating therefrom, 
nor an accumulation of air therein. 

There is, however, such a thing as air being 
' ' held ' ' to give us the power of imparting 
additional force to sounds. 

My assertion in the beginning of this chapter, 
' ' that the expired breath for speech equals the 
inspired breath for the same," will naturally 
provoke the question : How, then, is it that, 
after using our organs of. speech for any length 
of time, we have to pause for breath, we are 
' ' short of breath ? ' ' The explanation is, that 
the greater volume of sound being originated by 
the out^oin^ voice, it is more than likelv that 
we fail to inhale quite a sufficiency of air to 
produce with proper effect all the outgoing 
sounds we desire. 

For this insufficiency we draw on the air 
which is "held" in the air-channels for this 
very purpose. When this air which is ' ' held ' ' 
becomes exhausted, or nearly so, we take in at 



BREATHING. 35 

one gulp sufficient to supply the same again. 
This is the only "reservoir," and it but needs 
to be replenished at long intervals. It is quite 
possible, however (and I greatly incline to 
believe this to be so), that a person who breathes 
correctly (which yerj few persons do) might go 
on speaking or singing forever without ' ' taking 
breath;" the only bar to his doing so arising 
from a fatigue of the muscles which move his 
tongue. 

I have not in the preceding touched upon the 
action of the diaphragm, nor shall I attempt to 
do so now, except in saying that it does for 
speech what our lungs do for respiration, for 
the preservation of life. It forms a very im- 
portant part of the machinery which expands 
and contracts for the admission and emission of 
air and sound respectively. It acts in con - 
junction with the motions of the upper and 
lower jaws and of the tongue. 

For inspiration the upper jaw rises, together 
with the soft-palate and the uvula, but the 
tongue falls, and so does the diaphragm. This 
produces an extension of the upper cavity of the 



36 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

mouth, upward and downward, and of the air- 
receptacles of the chest and stomach. 

For expiration the lower jaw falls, while the 
tongue rises, increasing the size of the lower 
portion of the cavity of the mouth in both direc- 
tions. The diaphragm rises, forcing out the air 
by contracting the receptacles which con- 
tained it. 

All these actions are subject to great varia- 
tions in connection with the special sound which 
is to be emitted. They may be slow or rapid, 
as to time ; narrow or full, as to space ; or there 
may be a combination of these actions. For 
instance, slow, yet narrow ; quick, jet full ; or 
slowly extending, quickly contracting ; the action 
of the diaj^hragm being of a multifarious nature 
in bringing about these changes. 

All this is regulated, in the first instance, by 
the sound we expect to create, and the manner 
in which we inhale for such sound. The object 
of all these actions is to create various openings, 
or to contract others, through which air can be 
forced to create sound ; all these parts being 
those of a wind-instrument, and all these actions 



BREATHING. 37 

means to bring these parts into such relation to 
each other as to create the widest range of open- 
ings and sounds, respectively, by passing various 
streams of air through the same. 

Looking at the matter, herein before men- 
tioned, from a mere mechanical or physical 
standpoint, ' ' that two streams of air may pass 
each other in the same channel without inter- 
fering with each other, provided that there is 
a material difference in their velocity, ' ' I have 
mentioned it without reserve, although I am 
inclined to think that it is a discovery of no 
mean importance. It has already been estab- 
lished that two streams of the electric fluid can 
pass each other over the same wire without 
interfering with each other; and so can two 
streams of air through the same orifice, as illus- 
trated by the air we use for speech and by the 
air we inhale for the lungs. This may lead to 
the construction of a new order of wind instru- 
ments, possessing different scales of sounds 
which can be played at the same time, or it may 
be utilized in other directions. 



HOW DO WE SPEAK? 



^ HE manner in which we breathe for speech 
is Ijy raising and lowering the tongue. 

For each sound we utter the tongue must be 
once raised and once lowered, at least. These 
movements follow each other in regular rotation, 
the tongue being raised, then lowered, then 
raised again, although they are sometimes of so 
slight a nature that they scarcely can be per- 
ceived. The}' never cease during the continua- 
tion of speech ; and with each one of them the 
air is either admitted or emitted. 

These motions of the tongue are accompanied 
by corresponding motions of the lips, which, 
while we are speaking, seem to be in a constant 
quiver. The motions of the lips are apparently 
without regularity ; though the same as the 
tongue's they in reality change from the upper 
to the lower with never-failing regularity. The 
movement is now of the lower lip, then of the 

upper, and again of the lower, etc., though it 

(38) 



HOW DO WE SPEAK? 39 

is not often of the same period of time. As the 
tongue is raised, there is a movement of the 
lower lip ; as it is lowered, there is one of the 
upper lip. 

These movements of the lips correspond with 
the movements of the jaws, which again super- 
induce those of the tongue. They are some- 
times short, scarcely showing the teeth; some- 
times so as to show an entire row of teeth ; 
either the upper or lower, in accordance with 
the requirements of the sound which is being 
uttered. 

For English speech the tongue is lowered for 
inspiration y it is raised for expiration. 

While lowered, the air streams in over its 
surface; while raised, it streams out from un- 
derneath the same, sound following in the wake 
of each stream of air. 

For German speech the precise reverse action 
takes place : The tongue is lowered for expira- 
tion; it is raised for inspiration. 

This fact, that the opposite action obtains fo* 
German speech to that which obtains for Eng- 
lish speech, has given me the key to the entire 



40 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

situation. Had they been corresponding, I 
never would have made any discovery. It was 
due to the fact, that they are not corresponding, 
that it was so difficult, nay, impossible for me 
to produce correct English sounds. 

This remarkable fact, that English speech is 
carried on by a process of inspirations and ex- 
jrirations the precise reverse of that which fur- 
nishes the vehicle for German speech, offers 
food for reflection in many directions. Such 
questions will arise as, Has this always been the 
manner in which these insular people have 
spoken ? If not, at what period in their history 
was this change brought- about ? And what 
wrought it ? As all the nationalities comprising 
the British empire to-day breathe for speech in 
the same manner, it will be asked if it was 
the Celts, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, or Normans 
that caused it ? Some one of these peoples, or 
some one previous to these, must have exercised 
so powerful and far-reaching an influence as to 
compel future generations of various nationalities 
to change their current of speech; and, in so 
doing, create one homogeneous language. 



HOW DO WE SPEAK? 41 

What other people besides the English speak 
in this manner ? Which is the most natural and 
easiest way of breathing, the German or the 
English way ? 

Germans exhale their speech, Anglicans in- 
hale theirs. German speech comes direct from 
the throat, while English speech pursues an in- 
direct course. After being inhaled over the 
surface of the tongue, it is exhaled from under- 
neath the same. In so doing, its main sound, 
as it does for all languages, takes the same 
direction which the expired air takes. 

Every sound we hear being in reality com- 
posed of at least two sounds, the first part of 
any one sound, if it is an Anglican who utters 
it, follows the air inspired for the same, and is 
heard by reverberation outwardly. The second 
part, its main sound, is expired, and follows in 
the wake of the air which makes its exit from 
underneath the tongue. 

With German speech precisely the reverse 
action takes place. The air is inhaled beneath 
the slightly raised tongue ; it is exhaled from 
the throat over the tongue. 



42 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

All studies connected with the voice, and all 
teaching in regard to the correct use of the 
same, have been at all times exclusively in con- 
nection with the expired breath. It is of greater 
importance, however, to know how to inspire 
correctly than to know how to expire correctly. 
Correct expiration must, of necessity, follow 
correct inspiration, while the reverse is by no 
means necessarily the case. 






THE DUAL NATURE OF THE 
VOICE. 



HP* HE voice has always been spoken of as a 
unit, a stream of sounds, and it is quite 
possible that no one has ever thought that it 
might not be a unit, a thing by itself, but a 
composite. Yet 'such in reality it is. 

There are two voices, separate and distinct, 
which in speaking or singing blend into one and 
seemingly are one. I call them by different 
names, each name being characteristic of some 
especial quality ; and I shall use any of these 
expressions as occasion may seem to require. 
They are : 

The interior and the exterior, 

The upper and the lower, 

The first and the second (in succession), 

The ingoing and the outgoing, 

The inhaled and the exhaled, 

The initial and the final, 

The rising and the falling, 

(43) 



44 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

The advancing and the retiring. 

The two voices are so distinctly different that 
they forever follow their own separate chan- 
nels. The one is forever flowing from within 
outwardly ; the other, from without inwardly ; 
the channel of the one being over and above 
the tongue, that of the other under and be- 
neath the same. This latter, whose sound for 
English speech goes out from under the tongue, 
and for German speech goes in underneath the 
same, has not before been noticed by anyone. 

While speaking, the voice is ever moving in 
a circle ; the English rising voice coming out 
from beneath the tongue, and receding back 
over and above the same ; the German rising 
voice coming out from above the tongue, and 
receding back underneath the same. The two 
streams follow each other in such rapid suc- 
cession that they appear as a unit. The one 
is the complement of the other, and they fit 
into each other so closely as to appear as one. 

Every voice we hear, from murmuring to 
singing, from moaning to laughing, from the 
first cry of the new born to the last word spoken 



THE DUAL NATURE OF THE VOICE. 45 

by the dying, follows this immutable law. But 
it is not man's law alone. It is the law of 
nature, from the singing of the bird to the 
roaring of the lion, from the humming of the 
insect to the neighing of the horse, and the 
barking of the dog. There is always the upper 
and the lower, the rising and the falling voice, 
following each other and blending into one. 

Does it not always seem strange that from one 
and the same instrument sounds should emerge 
so distinctly different in their character, and so 
far apart in the musical scale, yet so closely fol- 
lowing upon and blending into one another, each 
sound, at the same time, standing distinctly by 
itself ? All this is executed in so diminutive a 
space, and by artists who never had any in- 
struction in the use of their instrument ! 

Besides the wonder of the production of the 
sounds, there is the wonder of their clearness 
and distinctness. How is it that the vibration 
of the previous sound does not mingle with 
that of the one following on the sounding-board 
of the oral cavity ? I can throw some light on 
this subject, and shall do so later on. 



46 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

The musical rhythm of* the language, its rise 
and fall, and ever changing modulation, are ex- 
plained by the two voices. 

It appears to me that the manner in which 
birds sing, English people speak, judging by 
the swelling of their throats, the movements of 
their tongue, and the perfect ease with which 
they j)roduce their song. The English voice 
appears to be confined to the head, and does not 
seem to come from lower depths as the German 
voice does. Hence the purity of English sounds ; 
while German sounds, coming from lower 
depths, lack this purity to a remarkable degree, 
and are accompanied by noises, attributed by 
Germans, both as regards the consonant as well 
as the vowel sounds, to some imperfection in the 
construction of the oral cavity as an instrument 
to permit the air to pass through freely. These 
places, against which, they say, the air in its 
passage strikes, are supposed to be productive of 
sounds independent of their proper musical 
sounds, and are, therefore, properly termed 
noises. 

Foreigners speaking English carry these noises 



THE DUAL NATURE OF THE VOICE. 47 

with tliem into their pronunciation of the Eng- 
lish language ; and it is this more than anything 
else which gives to their speech a ' ' foreign ' ' 
sound, more especially an " offensive " foreign 
sound. The assumption, that the construction 
of the oral cavity is not perfect for the emission 
of pure German sounds, however, is not correct. 
The obstacle they encounter is the German 
tongue, which does not move "out of the way" 
of the sounds, and hinders them in their free 
emission, causing the noises spoken of. It is less 
active than the English tongue, which performs 
any number of gymnastic exercises to assist the 
sound in coining forth clear and unobstructed. 
The movements of the tongue for German 
speech, though apparently slower, produce sound 
faster than those made by the English tongue, 
as they are of a slighter nature, and can, there- 
fore, be carried out much quicker. Germans, 
consequently, speak faster than Anglicans do. 



THE NEW VOCAL CORD. 



A FTER many years groping in the dark, 
getting but the faint glimmer of a light 
here and there, the first real illumination came 
to me while I was at Chicago during the prog- 
ress of the World's Fair. It came to me as a 
revelation, imparting to me the knowledge of a 
second voice. 

After having, upon continued, careful inves- 
tigation, become convinced of the correctness of 
my observation of the existence of this second 
voice, and of its location as emanating from 
beneath the tongue, the question constantly 
arose : By what means is this second, or lower, 
voice produced ? "What did nature mean by 
giving to it such a circuitous route ? How can 
its sounds find their way through this conduit, 
originating, as they do, in the vocal cords of the 
larynx, and yet come to the surface clear and 
undefiled ? 

Here was a puzzle which, for want of a 

(48) 



THE NEW VOCAL CORD. 49 

proper explanation, threatened to set at nought 
with others, at least, all that had with me be- 
come positive and undoubted facts. 

The solution to this mystery came to me while 
I was traveling. For the purpose of guarding 
against all possible personal contingencies, and a 
consequent loss of what had been intrusted to 
me, I sent an account of my discovery home in 
a letter, which is now before me. I prefer to 
give an account of this discovery in the precise 
words as then transmitted. This letter was dated 
at Louisville, Ky. , October 13, 1893, and the 
following is an extract from the same : 

6 ' I scarcely think that I overrate the im- 
portance of my discovery, in view of the 
fact that our speech is our most comprehen- 
sive gift; and that no discovery, heretofore 
made, of the nature of any of our faculties 
comes within the scope of our will to control as 
speech does. 

' ' While still abed on the morning of Tuesday 
last, at the Southern Hotel, St. Louis, my 
thoughts, as they have so often done of late, 
reverted back to this theme. While I was con- 
vinced that the sounds of the rising voice, in 
English speech, tend from below the tongue 
outward, I could not fathom the wisdom which 



50 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

made the outgoing voice pursue so tortuous a 
channel ; the air coming from the throat, thus 
forcing its way around the sides of the tongue 
and beneath it toward the teeth, while the 
tongue's tip is uplifted. Still less could I 
understand how clear, unmufned sounds can 
thus be produced, the vocal cords being hidden 
behind so many obstructions ; until it suddenly 
dawned on me that that very peculiar, lip-like 
formation in the lower jaw, close to the front 
part of the root of the tongue, was another 
vocal cord — the vocal cord, to the outgoing 
voice, for English speech. 

"Watch it, and see how it trembles and 
quivers with life and emotion while you speak ; 
how it is eloquent with feeling. Since I have 
discovered its use, it has become painful to me 
to look at it, so expressive is it of our soul-life. 
A synopsis of our entire being, almost, seems 
to be concentrated there. 

' ' Mystery of mysteries, that that which has 
been exposed to view at all times, which has been 
sounding with the notes of speech and song- 
forever, and is thus sounding now should have 
never been understood, nor even been noticed, 
by anyone. 

For English speech it is the main instrument 
of sound, while for German speech the vocal 
cords hidden within the inner recesses of the 
throat are the ones giving life to their most 
important sounds. 

' ' In view of those developments, is it to be 
wondered at that German speech should appear 



THE NEW VOCAL CORD? 51 

as coming full from the throat, while English 
speech appears to be coming from the head? The 
head of a German, while speaking, is full of action, 
as if assisting tho sounds to come forward. The 
head of an Anglican is firmly set on his shoul- 
ders, with the sound simply streaming out, and 
without any sign of assistance; hence, gesticu- 
lation, vivacity of the muscles of the face, often 
assisted by the hands and arms even, of the 
speaker, in the former case, and stolidity, dig- 
nity, and reserve in the actions of the latter. 

"The existence of the lower voice reveals the 
fact that there is a circular movement of air for 
the production of speech. With Anglicans, the 
air streams into the mouth, over the tongue, 
and thence into the larynx with the falling 
voice, and streams out again ' from beneath the 
tongue with the rising voice. With Germans, 
the same proceeding takes place in a reverse 
order. ' ' 

These are the main contents of my Louisville 
letter. 

To these remarks I must add that, while I 
attributed to the lip-like formation in the lower 
jaw the entire production of the lower voice, 
I have since ascertained that it is but a part of 
the instrument ; its other part being the frenu- 
lum, the cord which connects the tongue with 
the lower jaw, which is extended or contracted, 



52 .VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

iii conformity with the movements of the 
tongue, and the sounds to be emitted. It 
forms the exact centre of the month, and of 
the lip-like formation beneath the tongue, 
which it traverses and divides into two equal 
parts. 

The air coming from both sides around the 
root of the tongue, strikes against the sides of 
the fraenulum, when extended ; or against its 
ridge, when relaxed; and coming together in 
front of it produces sound. In conformity with 
the string being fully spanned, or it being in 
a greater or minor state of relaxation, the air, 
in striking it, will give forth various sounds. 

All changes to which the inner lip is sub- 
jected the outer lip is subjected to, likewise. 
It assumes the same shapes and positions. It 
is now raised, then depressed ; it moves for- 
ward, then backward. At times it is full and 
round, replete with blood and life; at others, 
it is contracted, and shows a shrunken, and 
pointed or ragged outline. The former usually 
obtains during inspiration, the latter during ex- 
piration. Together with the tongue, whose 



THE NEW VOCAL CORD. 53 

lower front or tip usually rests upon it, some- 
times concealing it altogether, then retiring, 
showing it in part, and retiring still further, 
showing it completely, and the space of the 
lower jaw which it encloses, it presents to all 
appearances another mouth within our mouth. 
This impression is heightened when the tongue 
rests upon the inner lip, thereby presenting a 
similar appearance to the upper lip resting upon 
the lower. 

Owing to this striking similarity, and not 
knowing by what name it is known in the phys- 
iological or medical world, if, indeed, it has a 
name, I call it the "replica," being almost a 
repetition, "by the hand of the same master," 
of the mouth itself. 

Not knowing, either, what the ' ' inner lip, ' ' 
or ' ' new ' ' vocal cord, may be called, I have 
named it the u vocal lip." 

As the replica, then, is apt to adopt the cor- 
rect shape for the proper production of sounds, 
it will be well to watch our lips to see that 
they assume the same shape. Only when they 
do will a sound be emitted in its entire purity ; 



54 FOCAL u ITERANCE. 

it being of prime necessity for the outer rim of 
the orifice of the mouth to have the correct 
shape, if it is to produce correct sounds. The 
tongue, while it is resting upon or with its tip 
moving along the rim of the vocal lip, acts in a 
somewhat similar maimer to that in which our 
upper lip acts in relation to our lower lip. That 
is, it creates openings of various shapes and 
sizes. Through these openings the air is forced, 
producing various sounds. 

At other times, when the tip of the tongue 
rests within the replica, pressing with its point 
hard down upon its bottom, upon being sud- 
denly raised it creates an explosion as for k, 
or, by a weaker pressure, as for g. Again, by 
rolling along its surface, it produces the sound 
of r, etc. , etc. 

The vocal lip moves backward for expired 
sounds, while the tongue's tip is raised; it 
moves forward for inspired sounds, while the 
tongue's tip rests upon it. It takes the opposite 
direction to that which the tip of the tongue 
takes, the latter moving backward for inspired 
and forward for expired sounds. 



THE NEW VOCAL CORD. 55 

These are some of the outlines connected 
with the replica and the vocal lip. It is quite 
a study, and time must be had for its full de- 
velopment. 

What inference may be drawn from a study 
of the replica and the vocal lip as regards the 
sounds produced by the vocal cord of the 
larynx, I can only surmise. I presume, how- 
ever, that we shall now be able to arrive at a 
better estimate of its true nature. 

It appears to me as if the new school which 
is likely to arise from these investigations will 
have to base its technical teaching largely upon 
a study of the aspect of the replica and the 
vocal lip in a general, and the changes to which 
they are subjected in a special, sense. 

It is not difficult for anyone to produce a 
pure sound when one makes a special effort to 
do so, but to produce pure sounds in connection 
with other sounds, and to do so habitually, must 
be the aim of the scholar and of the teacher. 
To accomplish this, the shape assumed by the 
lips, and the manner in which the teeth ap- 
proach each other, must be closely watched. As 



56 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

they are but a copy of the shape of the replica 
and the vocal lip, anyone can become his own 
teacher. 

This will be easy in comparison with many of 
the systems now in vogue, explaining the pro- 
duction of sounds ; most of them being too elab- 
orate in their description, and too difficult of 
comprehension, for the ordinary scholar. 

In contemplating the lower jaw as an instru- 
ment to produce sound, in comparison with the 
upper, or with the roof of the mouth, we can 
perceive why it is that the English tongue is 
capable of producing such a vastly greater 
variety of sounds than the German. It is a 
small but wonderfully constructed instrument, 
with its numerous knots, ligaments, elevations 
and depressions. Its ridges and indentures are 
subject to continuous changes, accommodating 
themselves to such shapes as are required of 
them to produce different sounds. 

The upper jaw with its plainly vaulted roof, 
on the other hand, does not possess these quali- 
fications, and is only fitted for the reproduction 
of those elementary sounds which have their 



THE NEW VOCAL CORD. 57 

origin in the vocal cord of the larynx. Hence, 
while German vowels have but one distinct 
sound, there are numerous variations for Eng- 
lish vowel sounds. 

' If the roof of the mouth, however, is looked 
upon as the sounding-board for all sounds, 
which in all likelihood it is, the sounds pro- 
duced by the "new" vocal cord, as well as 
those of the "old," are deflected from the 
same. It will be more nearly correct, therefore, 
to assume that the ' ' new ' ' vocal cord produces 
those parts of sounds which are so peculiarly 
characteristic of the English tongue, while the 
' ' old ' ' produces those also known to other 
tongues ; the two blending into each other for 
all the sounds of the English tongue. 

Steamships, nowadays, often carry a double 
engine, both engines being used while the ship 
is speeding along. The main object for having 
two, however, is for the purpose of enabling 
the ship to continue on its voyage, in case one 
should be disabled ; each engine being the pro- 
peller of a separate rudder. 

Nature has made the same provision for our 



58 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

seeing, hearing, smelling, breathing, thinking 
apparatus, etc. We likewise have two arms, two 
hands, two legs, etc. ; always one in reserve, in 
case the other should be disabled. And so Ave 
have two voices for speaking. 

We do not use our two voices, however, just 
at one and the same time, but in succession. 
The upper, always first; the lower, following 
close upon it ; as we must inspire before we can 
expire. They follow so close one upon the 
other as to appear as one. This is for the Eng- 
lish voice, of course ; the order for the German 
voice being the reverse. 

Do we hear, see, smell, breathe, etc. , also in 
this fashion, one ear, eye, lung, etc., always 
first, and the other following closely upon it ? 

There is no difficulty hearing the two voices. 
Any English vowel sound, slowly spoken, will 
clearly reveal them. The personal pronoun 
"I," for instance, composed of the two sounds 
a and e — a as in " father " and e as in " is " — 
will jbring them out very clearly. The first 
part of this sound, appears hollow, being spoken 



THE NEW VOCAL CORD. 59 

by the falling voice, while its last part is ring- 
ing, being spoken by the rising voice. 

There is not only a difference in the sound, 
but also in the inflection between the first and 
the second part of this sound ; so much so, that 
they might appear to be spoken by two different 
persons in quick succession. The German sound 
" Ei " (" egg^) shows precise y the reverse 
order. It is first loud and then soft. 

The same difference obtains with the rest of 
the vowels. It is very marked in the first 
letter of the alphabet, when standing by itself. 
Its first part is a as in " have, ' ' its second more 
of an e, as in " is. ' ' The a being spoken by 
the upper, has a subdued sound ; while the e, 
being spoken by the lower voice, sounds clear. 
sounds like o-ah, etc. 






EMPHASIS. 

A jST American gentleman who had been to 
Berlin spoke to me about the enthusiasm 
prevailing there for the Emperor (the old Em- 
peror). At the same time, said he, "they had 
so much respect for the old gentleman that, 
even while cheering him, they did not allow 
their voices to come out full, as ours do when 
we cry ' hurrah ; ' but theirs had a hollow 
sound, as if they had got drowned before they 
got fairly through with their cheering. ' ' While 
his observation, as such, was doubtless correct, 
the cause he attributed to it, of course, was not 
correct. In crying ' ' hurrah, ' ' the last part of 
the vowel a, in German, is spoken with the 
retiring voice, and, therefore, sounds hollow ; 
while the same sound, in English, is pronounced 
by the advancing voice, and when prolonged, 
as it is in crying ' ' hurrah, ' ' it sounds loud and 
ringing. 

This also makes the English voice preeminently 
(60) 



EMPHASIS. 61 

the voice of command. The last consonant or 
consonants are generally dropped, and the last 
vowel comes out clear and ringing. It sounds 
like a trumpet-blast, first hollow and then loud, 
being produced in a similar manner. On the 
other hand, and for the opposite reason, the 
German voice is more soulful, being better mod- 
ulated ; the fall of the voice following its rise, 
instead of the rise its fall, as in English. In a 
German serenade, or lullaby, the sound is sub- 
dued, gradually and slowly dying out with the 
falling voice. The same, when attempted by 
English voices, can never be carried out with 
the same effect. 

In vieAv of these facts, it does not appear to 
me possible for foreign singing- masters to teach 
singing to American or English pupils success- 
fully; the voice of the teacher differing from 
that of his pupil by natural production, their 
voices take a different direction, and can never 
come together on the same plane. Hence, the 
constant complaints of fine voices having been 
ruined by the method of such and such a master. 
His method has proven all right with his Italian 



62 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

scholars, when teaching them singing at home ; 
or with his German scholars, when the teacher 
is a German. What, then, is the trouble -with 
these "English" pupils? Neither teacher .nor 
scholars ever knew, and they have been at a loss 
for an explanation. 



•—•f^-' 



TRACHEA AND CESOPHAGUS. 



A FTER giving an account of the nature of 
the two voices, or of our dual voice as 
it might more properly be termed, and having 
also previously described the process of breath- 
ing for speech in a general sense, I can now 
proceed to explain how we breathe for the same 
in a specific sense. 

For English speech we inspire through the 
windpipe, creating the falling voice, and ex- 
pire through the gullet, creating the rising 
voice ; for German speech this order is reversed. 

This again establishes the rotation of the air, 
or sound, the same as it obtains in other re- 
spects regarding the voice. 

All of us are in the habit of speaking at 
meals. While w T e are eating, might not the 
epiglottis be more likely to be able to do its 
duty in covering up the windpipe, during the 
time that Ave either expire or inspire, than it 
could if it were obliged to do so during both 

inspiration and expiration ? We would come 

(63) 



64 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

far more frequently near choking if both 
streams of air had to pass through the trachea. 
In a sudden coughing fit, or while sneezing, 
when we are in the act of eating, food is ex- 
pelled. Besides, what is it that causes one's 
breath to be "tainted," when the stomach is 
out of order ? If it came from the lungs, how 
could the stomach affect it ? 

It will be admitted that breathing for our 
lungs never stops, that it goes on forever in 
its regular method, while life lasts. Such 
sudden spasms as sneezing, gaping, coughing, 
laughing, — all would seriously interfere with 
the act of breathing for our lungs, if entirely 
carried on through the trachea. This is obviated 
by one part originating in the channel of the 
gullet; and the other, in that of the windpipe 
the same as other regular sounds do. A sudden 
inspiration through the windpipe always pre- 
cedes these acts; while the act itself, by an 
equally sudden expiration, is carried on through 
the gullet. This relieves the windpipe to a 
great extent, and permits the act of breathing 






TRACHEA AND (ESOPHAGUS. 65 

to be prosecuted without serious interference by 
these outbursts. 

My final conviction, therefore, is, as already 
stated, that for English speech we inhale through 
the trachea, and exhale through the oesophagus, 
from which the air passes directly beneath the 
tongue into the lower jaw. 

For German speech Ave inhale through the 
gullet, the air passing in underneath the tongue, 
and exhale through the windpipe. In this man- 
ner, for English speech, the vocal cords are 
passed first inwardly, and the vocal 4t lip^' 
last, outwardly. While for German speech the 
vocal lip is passed first, and the vocal cord last. 
This fully explains the phenomena of the voice, 
and the tendency of the sound in both instances. 



•^jl^lf^- 



THE CIRCULATION OF SOUND- 
CIRCLES. 



w 



E say, our tongue slips up and down, 
backward and forward. In saving so, 
we state that which seeins to be the case, and, 
in a measure, really is the case. As a matter 
of fact, it is stating - but a part of the tongue's 
movements. To fully state what the tongue 
does will be giving an account of one of the 
most interesting observations I have made. 

The tongue does not move in the oral cavity 
by slipping up or down, backward or forward ; 
but its movements are in the shape of circles, 
and it never moves in any other way. These 
circles are described by the tongue's tip. They 
are not complete circles, however, but segments 
of circles only. The tip of the tongue, in de- 
scribing them, goes as far as it is able to go, the 
remaining part of the circle for its completion 
being left to the imagination. 

All movements, in fact, connected with 

speech are circular in their nature. The air 
(66) 



THE CIRCULATION OF SOUND— CIRCLES. 67 

for speech moves in circles, the sound which it 
produces has the same tendency; and so have 
the movements of the tongue, in causing the 
admission and emission of air, and in connecting 
the two voices. 

The tongue, in an English mouth, makes so 
many movements, and carries them out with 
such velocity, that the oral cavity, while we are 
speaking, seems to be completely filled with the 
same. In view of this fact, it had long been a 
riddle to me to know how English sounds could 
find their way through this maze of movements 
of the tongue, and come to the surface with so 
much distinctness and clearness. The move- 
ments of the tongue in circles will explain it ; 
these movements being made for the very pur- 
pose of assisting sounds to come out clearly. 

Before any sound is uttered, the air is drawn 
into the oral cavity by a previous expiration, 
causing a vacuum. The air, thereby attracted, 
is drawn into this vacuum by a swinging mo- 
tion, and strikes the tongue obliquely at its tip. 
We can distinctly feel this. There is a draught of 
air passing over the tip of the tongue with every 



68 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

inspired sound, which has a cooling effect, in 
drying up its moisture. For every German in- 
spired sound we can feel the same effect, beneath 
the tongue. The air then follows along the sur- 
face of the tongue into the larynx. To aid the 
air in being thus absorbed, the tongue's tip 
points downward, while the upper jaw and teeth 
and the upper lip are raised. Then follows the 
second movement for expiration, by the raising 
of the tongue with its tip pointing upward. In 
so doing the air and the sound are expired from 
beneath it, while the lower jaw and teeth and 
the lower lip are depressed. 

These two movements are repeated once more 
for the same sound, making four movements for 
each sound, or six, more properly speaking, as 
explained further on. It is not a simple lowering 
or raising of the tongue's tip, however. After 
inspiration, its tip is, in reality, raised to the 
roof of the mouth. It then comes down with a 
graceful movement inwardly, describing a circle, 
until its tip reaches the upper row of teeth. 
Here the sound is emitted through an opening 
formed between the tongue's lower side and the 



THE CIRCULATION OF SOUND— CIRCLES. 69 

lower row of teetli. It now moves up again to 
the roof of the mouth, from whence it comes 
down, with another circular movement, out- 
wardly this time, until it reaches the lower row 
of teeth. Here inspiration takes place through 
an opening formed between the surface of the 
tongue and the upper row of teeth. After this, 
there is another expiration for the same sound. 

The movement, which brings the tongue for- 
ward for expiration, is s)nonymous with the 
slipping forward of the tongue; the second 
movement, which brings it down for inspira- 
tion, appears to us to be simply the slipping 
back of the tongue. For all sounds of the upper 
voice, consequently, the tongue slips back, while 
for all those of the lower it slips forward. 

The fact is, nature does not work like a black- 
smith, but by gentle movements, graceful curves, 
and the most artistic touches, it attains its re- 
sults. Yet, withal, it moves so swiftly that we 
can scarcely follow its movements. 

Nor does nature deal in solids, but rather in 
compounds. Where we imagine there is one 
thing, there may be hundreds. Thus we hear a 



70 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

sound, and say it is such and such a note, or such 
and such a letter. Yet there are many sounds 
to make up this one sound, and in the process of 
its production more subtle factors enter then we 
shall ever gain a knowledge of. 

The tongue "performs the work of cony erring 
the air into sound, by sending it in different 
directions in the oral cavity. It fans it, sweeps 
it together, so as to mass it in one spot, or whips 
it into submission, in accordance with the sounds 
to be produced. In doing this, it makes inces- 
sant motions, apparently of an indescribable and 
wilful nature. In reality they are all circular 
in shape and move in the graceful manner here- 
tofore described. 

An English tongue hangs loosely in the 
mouth, as loosely almost as does a tongue sus- 
pended in a bell. It is ready at any moment 
to obey the command of its bellringer, the mind. 
A German tongue, on the other hand, rests on 
the floor of the mouth, and touches it or some 
portion of the oral cavity eyen during the forma- 
tion and enunciation of the vowel sounds. The 
English tongue, in so doing, is completely 



THE CIRCULATION OF SOUND— CIRCLES. 71 

withdrawn from any contact with the oral cavity. 
This touch of the tongue against the teeth, or 
other parts of the mouth, is the cause of the 
noise always accompanying German vowel 
sounds, of which the English voice is absolutely 
free. 

During the act of speaking, the tongue's tip, 
while swinging with a circular motion, now up, 
then down, always returns to the soft-palate. 
There is a point of the soft- palate which must 
be touched by the tongue's tip every time a new 
sound is to be evoked, so as to stop the vibra- 
tion of the previous sound, on this, the sounding- 
board of the oral cavity. If this were not done, 
there would be an endless intermingling and 
confusion of sounds, and none would ever be 
heard to stand clearly and distinctly by them- 
selves. 

The centre, around which the circles revolve, 
is the opening to the throat. The tongue's 
principal aim, in swinging up and down, is for 
the purpose of giving to the air free egress 
and ingress from and into this ojDening. The 
swingings of the tongue, consecpiently, mean 



72 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

breathings; it swings up for expiration and 
down for inspiration, each breathing being ac- 
companied by a sound. In swinging down, by 
an outward movement, the tip of the tongue 
stops below the lower teeth to permit the air 
to enter above it. In swinging up, by an inner 
motion, it stops above the upper teeth to let the 
air out from beneath it. 

The circles, which the tongue describes, as 
far as their circumference is concerned, are de- 
termined by the sound which is to be produced. 
It is larger or smaller in accordance with the 
force which it is necessary to employ to pro- 
duce such sound. 

This last remark does not have reference, 
however, to the stopping of the previous sound 
on the sounding-board of the oral cavity, but to 
a second tap of the tip of the tongue, given to 
this sounding-board, either the soft or the hard- 
palate, immediately following the first tap. This 
tap is applied to various parts of the palate for 
the enunciation of the different consonant 
sounds. The greater the power the sound is to 
have, the higher up must be the touch, and the 



THE CIRCULATION OF SOUND— CIRCLES. 73 

greater must be the force with which it is 
applied. And so will be the circle larger or 
smaller ; and it will be executed with greater or 
less force and rapidity, in accordance with the 
sound which is to be evoked. 

This greater or less force is also shared in by 
the air, which is being inhaled for the same 
sound. The higher the touch, and the greater 
the circle, the larger will be the opening 
thereby created in the cavity of the mouth, 
and in the same relation thereto will be the cur- 
rent of air absorbed for such sound. 

In likening our apparatus to produce sound 
to a string-instrument, I have compared the 
air or nerve-channels, through which or along- 
side of which the air-sparks we inhale for speech 
travel, to the strings of this instrument. 

In touching a certain spot of the hard or soft- 
palate with the tip of our tongue, with the in- 
tention of producing a certain sound, especially 
a consonant sound, we open this cord, whose 
sound-nerve has its ending here for this sound. 

It is astonishing with what certainty the tip 
of the tongue touches these spots from which it 



74 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

expects to draw these sounds. If it should touch 
the wrong spot by ever so little, the cord will 
not respond, and the sound will not be heard, 
or we may hear a false sound, not the one we 
expected to hear. 

How the cords are " touched " for the vowel 
sounds, I cannot imagine, as there is no touch. 
They are simply the children of our imagina- 
tion become real, they are the product of our 
will. We " will " a certain vowel to sound, and 
the vocal cord or lip opens up the nerve-string 
with which it is connected. The cords for the 
vowel sounds all centre and have their ending in 
the vocal cord and lip, and their sound is pro- 
longed, in conformity with our will, or our 
muscular ability to breathe for it. 



*ftis* 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH. 



'"T^HE circles which the tongue describes 
are the proper gauge for speech. For 
English speech they are large, and English to 
be well spoken must, therefore, be slowly 
spoken ; much slower, at least, than German 
is. It is very difficult for a person to speak 
English fast and yet form his circles to perfec- 
tion, good speech being synonymous with a 
perfect chain of circles. 

When a person speaks too fast for melodious 
utterance, we should say that his circles are too 
small ; when his speech is sluggish, that they are 
too loose; when he stutters, that his circles are 
broken ; when his speech is rough and unmannerly, 
that they are out of shape or in bad shape ; when 
he speaks in a high tone of voice, that his circles 
are raised up too high, locally ; when in a low 
tone, that they incline too far down ; when he 
speaks distinctly, that they are complete ; when 
he speaks with expression, that they are vigor- 
ous; when he speaks melodiously, that they are 
(75) 



76 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

of tlie best material ; and when lie speaks with 
feeling, that they are elastic, that they widen and 
contract. 

When I say that stuttering is synonymous 
with the circles being broken, I mean that there is 
a lack of continuity in speech. This is caused by the 
two voices not following close upon each other, 
not chiming into each other. The upper voice 
utters a sound, but the lower is slow in respond- 
ing. The tongue fails to complete its circle for 
it. Or the tip of the tongue may not hit the 
proper place in the roof of the mouth for such 
sound, and thus not describe the correct circle. 

The circles become deranged, in the first in- 
stance, through excitement in the nervous air- 
channels, superinduced by a latent though 
ever present fear of breaking down. If this 
fear could be completely allayed, there would 
not, in all probability, be any stuttering that could 
easily not be cured. As the circles represent 
breathings, by endeavoring to breathe correctly 
for speech this nervous excitement will be 
allayed, and the circles will become full and 
equable. 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH. 77 

There should be no trouble in correcting such 
faults, provided the stutterer can be made to 
understand what he is required to do. He must 
begin by speaking slowly and deliberately, con- 
stantly watching his mode of breathing and his 
circles; and as soon as he breaks down, he must 
repeat the sound until he can do so with perfect 
ease. 

I was a stutterer, or, at least, a very defec- 
tive speaker of the English language. If I have 
succeeded, by certain rules strictly applied to 
my speech, in curing myself of these defects, is 
it not likely that the same rules applied to the 
defective speech of others will also cure them of 
their defects ? 



EXTENSION AND CONTRACTION 
OF THE ORAL CAVITY. 



I ^HE English tongue hangs loosely in the 
mouth. The air circulates freely around 
it. Nature has made its house, the oral cavity, 
a certain size, but the speaker increases it by 
now raising the roof, and then depressing the 
cellar. The roof is raised for inspiration, the 
cellar is depressed for expiration. When the 
tongue is properly balanced, between the air 
streaming in over it, and coming out from be- 
neath it, the sounds of speech or song will 
iiow unrestrainedly from the mouth, where the 
two streams meet, 

During the act of inspiration nature provides 

for a free ingress of the air into the oral cavity 

by raising the upper lip, the soft-palate and the 

uvula. The body of the tongue rests in the 

lower jaw, and is confined within the bed formed 

by the lower teeth. The tongue's tip points 

downward, and its surface, within its confined 

position, is slightly convex. 
(78) 



THE ORAL CAVITY. 79 

All this is changed immediately for expira- 
tion. The soft-palate and the uvula fall, assum- 
ing their natural position, so does the upper 
lip ; but the lower cavity now asserts its rights. 
The lower lip is drawn down, the chin is squared 
and extended downward and outward, and in so 
doing the bottom of the mouth is depressed. 
This increases the size of the lower cavity to a 
considerable extent. 

The tongue's tip which for inspiration had 
made a circular movement outwardly, from the 
roof down, and was then confined together with 
its body within the bed formed by the lower 
row of teeth, is now raised, by swinging upward, 
immediately to come down again, however, first, 
by an inner motion, and then by an upper, 
until it reaches the upper row of teeth. During 
this latter motion the entire body of the tongue 
is lifted up, its sides are spread out, and over- 
lap both rows of teeth, while its surface as- 
sumes a slightly raised shape. It looks, to all 
appearances, like a mushroom with its thickset 
root and spreading roof. The latter is raised up 



80 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

beyond the opening to the throat, bringing the 
same completely beneath its shelter. 

The ligament which connects the body of the 
tongue at its root with the throat, and grows 
some distance down the throat, is lifted up to- 
gether with the body of the tongue. While in 
this position it is narrowed down to such an ex- 
tent as to leave the opening to the throat free 
and uncovered on both sides. Through these 
openings the air finds its way out beneath the 
raised sides of the tongue. 

The entire lower portion of the mouth being 
depressed and extended, the air streams from 
underneath both sides of the raised tongue into 
the front part of this extended opening, after 
having first formed a unison at the frsenulum, 
and having produced sound by its aid and that 
of the vocal lip. 

All this extensive proceeding is gone through 
with for every sound that is uttered, nay, for 
every half of such sound. As for the other 
half, the upper portion of the oral cavity under- 
goes similar changes ; the former being for the 



THE ORAL CAVITY. 81 

expired portion of such sound, the latter for the 
inspired. 

It appears to me — and I am well convinced 
that this observation is correct, — that all 
breathing through the mouth, whether for 
speech or otherwise, is carried on in the same 
manner as just now described. For its verifica- 
tion it will but be necessary to watch the tongue 
of a dog on a hot summer day, while it is parti) 7 
hanging out of his mouth. The heat has to 
some extent dried up the fluid in his mouth, and 
he is panting for breath. The air finds its way 
freely into his month over and above the 
tongue, but his expiration labors under diffi- 
culties ; and you can readily observe his expired 
breath lifting up his tongue at regular intervals 
from underneath the same, while it is making 
its exit from his mouth. 

It is, however, quite possible that dogs in- 
spire from underneath the tongue, and expire 
from above it. In that case, his panting would 
arise from his difficulty in inspiration. This, in 
fact, appears to be the most likely. His tongue, 
overlapping his teeth, would make the entrance 



82 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

of tlie air into his mouth a rather difficult pro- 
ceeding: hence his efforts in giving it admission. 

There being three inspirations and three ex- 
pirations for every vowel sound that is uttered, 
the two movements just described follow each 
other in an incredibly short space of time. 
Their rapidity, of course, depends upon the 
rapidity of the speech which is being uttered. 

The rise and fall of the tongue is identical 
with the rise and fall of the voice. The tongue 
rises to make room beneath it, for the exit of 
the rising voice ; it falls to increase the room 
above it, for the entrance of the falling voice. 

It goes without saying that all this takes place 
for the German language in the reverse order. 

While circles, described by the tongue for 
English speech, are large — the rising voice 
having its birth in the lower cavity and, there- 
fore, requiring a great extension of room there- 
in — the circles for German speech are much 
smaller. Expiration taking place direct from 
the throat, there is no necessity for a greatly in- 
creased space. ISTor is the tongue brought into 
requisition to the same extent as in English, as 



THE ORAL CAVITY. 83 

a vehicle to assist in forming sound. Hence, for 
German speech the tongue is required to be 
making but comparatively few movements, 
which, apparently, scarcely remove it from its 
normal position. I say "apparently," for, 
while these movements are scarcely to be 
noticed, they are of the same order as those 
made by an English tongue, only greatly modi- 
fied in measure and rapidity of execution. 

German sounds, consequently, are not as clear 
and as positive as English sounds, though they 
are louder, especially the vowel sounds, in 
coming direct from the throat ; the clearness 
of expired English sounds being partly due to 
the trumpet-shaped funnel through which they 
pass. 

All there is of harmony and melodious sound 
in speech or song is produced by the gradual 
dissolution of the upper voice into the lower. 
The rising voice produces a positive sound, a 
mould out of one piece, as it were. The con- 
tinuous flow of the voice, after the production 
of this sound, gradually melting into the falling 
voice, adds harmony to the same, as illustrated 



84 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

by the German voice. The falling voice gradu- 
ally advancing into the rising voice, ogives its 
melody to English sound. 

All through German speech and, of course, 
song, there is a rise and a fall ; all through 
English speech and song there is a fall and rise 
of the voice. 

This is beautifully and significantly expressed 
in German in the words : 

Das | Heben und | Sinken der | Stimme, 
which takes the opposite direction in English 
in saying : 

The voice | in its rise | and its fall. 
This is a very interesting subject, hut I can- 
not at present elaborate upon it. I will only 
call attention to the fact, which is an outcome 
of this condition, that we find the long syllable, 
as a rule, at the end of each line of English 
poetry ; while German poetry admits of both 
endings with equal felicity, the short as well 
as the long; the latter being, in reality, not 
abruptly so, but tapering off in a subdued tone 
with the short again. 



THE MAN WITHOUT A LARYNX. 



A T the gathering of elocutionists recently 
had in Philadelphia, a member of the 
medical faculty spoke of a man whose larynx it 
had become necessary to remove in order to save 
his life. It was a delicate and no doubt very 
skilful operation successfully performed. Part 
of the operation consisted in attaching the man's 
windpipe to his throat, into which an opening 
had been made. This opening was closed arti- 
ficially, but in such a manner that he could 
freely breathe through the same. 

The entire apparatus by whose aid speech is 
produced having been destroyed, there was great 
surprise when, sometime after the operation, the 
man suddenly commenced to speak. His voice, 
however, was not what it had been ; it had lost 
its elasticity, its cadence. It was all of a mono- 
tone, with rather a hoarse, hollow sound, and 
made the impression of being pushed out rather 
than flowing out freely and of its own accord. 

Still it was quite natural, and he could even 

(85) 



86 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

sing, in a way. It was also distinct, and quite 
audible at a moderate distance. 

When lie spoke, his tongue was almost con- 
tvnually raised. This phenomenon was a great 
puzzle, there being no way in which to explain 
it, until our doctor noticed that some kind of a 
cartilage had been funned on one side in the 
throat, and the air, by retroaction, in some way 
caused this cartilage to vibrate 1 . Nature had thus 
kindly provided him, in a new place, with a 
"new vocal cord," and "this it was which gave 
the man his voice. ' ' 

As if an excrescence, any stick almost, could 
replace the vocal cords of the larynx, the won- 
derful, the incomparable! You might just as 
soon expect a man's power of vision to be re- 
stored, in being replaced by an outgrowth on 
his face, having an outward appearance some- 
what similar to his lost eye. 

It would not well be possible to find a strong- 
er vindication and a more perfect proof of the. 
correctness of what I have ascertained, than this 
doctor's recital of this case. 

The man's inspired voice, supposing him to 



THE MAN WITHOUT A LARYNX. 87 

have been an American, was gone, and there 
was nothing left to him but his expired voice. 
All there was that conld have enabled him to 
speak from his throat had been destroyed. 

Yet there was a voice, not the one which was 
dead, but another, a strange, new voice. Some 
miracle had to be wrought, to explain it, and so 
they discovered the cartilage, which came very 
opportune, just at this time ! 

We know better, however. The voice with 
which he spoke was the one hidden underneath 
his tongue. The latter he could not help hut con- 
tinually ' ' raise ' ' to let his voice out. All 
that part of his mouth which was above his 
tongue was inactive ; his inspired voice being 
lost, there was nothing for it to do. All there 
was of activity was in that beneath his tongue. 

His voice was sustained by the expired air, 
which came from his gullet, and which, in 
making its way out from beneath the tongue, 
made the man's replica and vocal lip, which 
were in a perfect state of preservation, resound 
with the sounds of speech and song. They 



88 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

spoke, yet with that monotone which character- 
izes the tones of the single voice. 

The cadence was wanting, the intonation, the 
rise and the fall of the voice, which can only be 
produced by a gradual sinking of the tones of 
the one voice into the other, or by a gradual 
rising of the sounds of the one voice out of the 
other. The man spoke with the sounds of the 
rising voice only, if he was an Anglican, which 
I suppose he was, having been deprived, by its 
destruction, of the voice which produces the 
falling sounds. 



THE SOUND REPRESENTED BY 
THE LETTER R. 



HATE heretofore spoken of sounds in gen- 
eral, nor do I propose in this treatise to 
enter fully into the details of the production of 
each individual sound. 

What I have ascertained about consonant 
sounds I will illustrate by making a thorough 
analysis of the production of the sound r. In 
so doing, I shall have to repeat things already 
mentioned. It will serve, however, to give a 
better general idea of the nature of the produc- 
tion of the consonant sounds. 

For years I had been a martyr to this sound, 
the greatest foe known to the helpless foreigner 
wrestling with the English tongue. After all 
the rest of the sounds had surrendered, the r 
stood out by itself, holding the fort and hurling 
defiance at me. 

All I would say was readily understood ex- 
cept words containing this unconquerable sound. 
(89) 



90 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

This was the case more particularly with words 
in which the r was preceded by 0, on, a, h, p 
or o (as /i'), or in which it was succeeded by 00, 
o, ox, etc., as "orange," "organ," "origin," 
"order," "store," "core," kw lore," "rose," 



-row," 


"Koine," "room," "rook," 


"crook," 


"crank," "crow," "court," "cry," 


"broil," 


' * brass, " " brown, " " price, ' ' 


' ' proof, 


' k print, " " brook," k ' Brooklyn, ' ' 


" scrape/ 1 


w ' roar, " k k brewer, " " brine, ' ' 


"breeze'," 


"chord," "cur," "word," "world," 



-art," "hurt," "part," etc. 

They were my sworn enemies, and I hated 
them most cordially. Whenever they occurred, 
I tried to get out of the scrape by substituting 
some other word, if I could possibly find one. 

To this sound's obstinacy, however, I am in- 
debted for my final victory over all the sounds. 
In finally yielding, not to my superior general- 
ship, but to my never ceasing pertinacity, I 
starved it into submission. In so doing, it left 
to me, as my booty, its secret, which it shared 
with the rest of the sounds, and which they had 
kept inviolate together ever since man first 



SOUND REPRESENTED BY LETTER R. 91 

littered an articulate sound — their secret of the 
dual voice. 

I had become surfeited with hearing and 
seeing at the great Chicago Fair, having been 
there for months. After my family had left, 
and bein<>' obliged to remain there some time 
longer, I retired to the extreme other end of 
the city. There, in the solitude of Lincoln 
Park, I took up my study of vocal sounds once 
more, and, retiring completely within myself, 
this secret came to me. 

Under my incessant endeavors to produce 
the English r sound, my voice at last "split" 
in two. I distinctly felt the separation. Each 
part became a living thing by itself; one part 
producing an r which rolled over my tongue 
back into the larynx, while the other was send- 
ing an /* to the surface from underneath my 
tongue. 

It frightened me. I felt that something un- 
usual had happened. I repeated these sounds, 
and then stood before the fact, that I had be- 
come a participant with nature in one of its 
great secrets — that I was the first man to whom 



92 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

this secret had been entrusted. The past seemed 
to be suddenly opened, and over its dark blue 
waters there was one ray of light, which came 
straight to me. This was the vision I had at 
the time. 

I felt awed, and more oppressed than elated, 
having become burdened with a great responsi- 
bility. Of all the tongues that have ever spoken, 
and of all which are speaking to-day, no man 
ever knew how they were speaking. 

What I found out about the letter r cannot be 
said in a few words. It represents two sounds, 
materially differing in the manner of their pro- 
duction. The one is the product of the inner, 
the other, of the outer voice, or the voice pro- 
duced by inspiration and by expiration respec- 
tively. These sounds follow each other in such 
quick succession that they appear as one. 

The first, produced by inspiration, requires 
that the tip of the tongue shall first touch the 
highest part of the roof of the mouth it can 
reach. With an outward movement, that is, 
with the tip of the tongue pointing toward the 
lips, it then comes down to the root of the 



SOUND REPRESENTED BY LETTER R. 93 

lower teeth. After tins, with a vibratory move- 
ment, it rolls inwardly over the soft part of the 
lower jaw until it reaches the enclosure of the 
replica in whose boundary it momentarily rests, 
while still continuing to vibrate. 

By this movement the tongue's back is grad- 
ually raised until it comes in contact with the 
soft-palate. A vacuum having been created by 
expiration previous to this movement, the air 
streams inwardly through the temporary open- 
ings created by said vibrations between the 
back of the tongue and the soft-palate, and pro- 
duces the sound of the r of the falling voice. 

This sound, though created by an inward flow 
of air, becomes -audible by reverberation over 
the surface of the tongue outwardly. In car- 
rying out this movement, the tongue is con- 
tracted and drawn away from the teeth. 

I want to call especial attention to this, as the 
tongue with all sounds of the expired voice pre- 
sents a similar appearance. 

To produce the r of the expired voice, the 
tongue's tip releases its hold on the replica, slips 
up to the roof of the mouth, which it touches a 



94 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

second time, and then coming down by an inner 
movement — that is, pointing toward the throat 
— it again rises upward until it reaches the same 
spot of the soft-palate which it had touched be- 
fore, and against which it vibrates. 

While making this movement, the tongue's 
body is raised and its surface flattened out, 
spreading its sides over the teetli of the lower 
jaw on both sides. The air, meanwhile, being 
expired from beneath the sides and the front of 
the tongue, while its tip is vibrating against the 
soft-palate, causes a thrilling sound to be heard 
issuing from beneath the tongue, which is the r 
of the rising voice. 

The lifting up of the body of the tongue, 
while its tip reaches forward and upward, takes 
place for all sounds of the expired voice. 

The tip of the tongue, consequently, touches 
the roof of the mouth three times in producing 
the r sound. All these movements being re- 
peated once over again to complete this sound, 
this touch is really made six times. This is 
ecpial to three inspirations and three expirations 
for every r sound which is ever produced. 



SOUND REPRESENTED BY LETTER R. 95 

The r sound as we hear it, or even when we 
do not hear it (as with some speakers it is merely 
an inspiration and an expiration of the air, being 
devoid of the thrill produced by the touch), is 
always produced by a combination, or, more 
strictly speaking, by a succession of these two 
movements. The r of the upper voice is pro- 
duced first, that of the lower immediately after- 
ward, the two running together and producing 
one continuous sound. 

When the r sound is heard to roll continually, 
as it does with some speakers, the two move- 
ments here described are repeated a number of 
times in close succession. It is done by a suc- 
cession of inspirations and expirations carried out 
in this manner, possibly equalling sixty, every 
time they pronounce this sound. 

These two movements, the first for inspiration 
the latter for expiration, are in a similar manner 
carried out for all sounds, the entire scale there- 
of, as previously mentioned. 

This is the secret of the letter r of the English 
language, which, after solving, gave me the key 



96 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

to the entire situation , as all sounds are produced 
in a similar manner. 

It seems scarcely possible that all these move- 
ments should he carried out during the short 
space of time in which this sound is pronounced. 

This is not all, however, for there are other 
movements of the tongue, connected with it, of 
which I shall speak at length when I come to 
the vowel sounds. 

Yet man's nature is so alert that the scholar, 
after going through these evolutions several 
times, will find that he can execute them quite 
rapidly, and that they will soon become auto- 
matic with him. 

I have illustrated the production of the r 
sound so minutely in order to show the general 
manner of the production of sounds. For the 
sounds of the upper, the inhaled voice, the tip 
of the tongue always rests momentarily near or 
at some point back of the lower teeth, to permit 
the air to flow freely inwardly over the tongue's 
surface. For those of the lower, or exhaled 
voice, the tongue's tip rests momentarily against 
the upper teeth, or at some point beyond them, 



SOUND REPRESENTED BY LETTER R. 97 

to permit the air to flow freely out from be- 
neath the tongue. 

I still want to call attention to the shape of 
the movements herein mentioned. For the in- 
spired sound, the tongue's tip moves in a half 
circle, pointing outwardly; for the expired 
sounds, it moves in a half circle, pointing in- 
wardly. These two segments form one com- 
plete circle. 



CONSONANTS. 

/^"^ONSONANTS proper are noises, produced 
by certain well-known, mechanical de- 
vices. We cannot take a noise and attach to it 
another noise, any more than we can take a 
bead and attach to it another bead. It takes a 
string, run through the beads, to bind them to- 
gether. The string which binds the consonants 
together in speed 1 and makes them cohesive, 
and speech itself coherent, are the vowels. 
Where several consonants follow close one upon 
another, we must run in our string of vowels 
to bind them together. 

The nature of the vowels is as opposite to 
that of the consonants as soul is to body. They 
permeate the matter of the consonants and sur- 
round it ; they uplift it, and carry it along. 

Consonants have been divided into two clas- 
ses : (1) the mutes, I, p, <l, k, c (as fc) and g 
hard ; and (2) the semi- vowels comprising all the 
other consonant sounds. 

The above are all the mutes there are, ac- 

(98) 



CONSONANTS. 99 

cording to my idea; others, however," have 
named more than those. 

The semi- vowels, Z, m, n, ■/', are also called 
liquids. 

I have made the observation that the mute 
sounds never follow each other in close succes- 
sion in one and the same syllable. They rarely, 
in fact, follow close upon one another in any 
word, even in such a way that one ends a syl- 
lable and the other begins a new one. They are 
inanimate, and can only be carried along on the 
wings of a vowel, either in its pure shape or in 
the shape of a semi-vowel. 

The voiced cod sonants, or semi- vowels, are a 
combination of a noise and a musical sound; 
the latter consisting, in the vowel, of the 
syllable to which said consonant belongs. It 
precedes them, succeeds them, and even splits 
them in two, inserting itself between the two 
parts. 

While the mutes are produced by mechanical 
means only, the organs of the voice being 
closed, the semi-vowels are voiced sounds. The 
voice is thrown into them and pervades them. 



100 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

We cannot pronounce any consonant, however, 

unless it is preceded by a vowel ; that is to say, 
the vowel need not precede it bodily. There 
may be as many as three consonants ahead of it, 
still it becomes necessary to sound the vowel 
first, in an undertone at least, before Ave can 
begin to pronounce the first consonant, the 
vowels being the tie connecting all speech. 
Without them the consonants could not be 
moved, they would be inert. 

Consonants and vowels are so intimately con- 
nected and interwoven that they cannot be 
treated separately when their construction is 
being considered. I shall, therefore, proceed 
now with the mechanical construction only of 
the consonant sounds. I do not propose, how- 
ever, to do so in detail, but shall give a full 
account of the representative sounds only. 



A" is not greatly dissimilar in its construction 
to r. For the inspired sound the tip of the 
tongue takes a very firm hold on the bottom of 
the inner mouth, whereby its back is raised close 



CONSONANTS. 101 

Lip to the soft -palate. Just previous to that 
there is a complete expiration ; the throat is 
closed, and a vacuum is created in the air-chan- 
nels. The tip of the tongue, by suddenly re- 
linquishing its hold on the replica, causes an 
opening to be made between the raised back of 
the tongue and the soft-palate, through which 
the air is forced, producing the h sound of the 
inspired voice. 

For the expired sound, the throat is again 
closed, this time, however, to keep the inspired 
air in confinement. 

By the tip of the tongue relinquishing its hold 
on the replica, as just stated, and then taking 
a firm hold against the highest point of the soft- 
palate which it can reach, the confined air, upon 
the tongue's tip suddenly releasing this hold, 
streams out from beneath the sides of the 
tongue into the replica. This sudden movement 
causes the explosion whose result is the forma- 
tion of the expired h sound. 

Upper and lower h follow each other in such 
quick succession that they appear as one sound. 

What is most remarkable in this connection is 



102 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

the fact, that, while the manner in which they 
are produced varies considerably in its detail, 
the result should be so similar that the most at- 
tentive ear cannot detect any difference between 
them. The same remark may be applied to r, 
and all the rest of the consonants. • 

For h the touch of the tip of the tongue ap- 
pears to be even higher than for r, and the circles 
the tongue describes are, in consequence, larger. 

G (hard). 

G as in " good," is a modification of k. The 
tongue's tip does not press so hard against the 
bottom of the replica or the soft-palate either. 
Its pressure, therefore, when released, does not 
produce so strong an explosion, either for the 
inspired or the expired g sound. 

a. 

Q is the same sound as k, followed by u. 

X. 
^is also the same as k, followed by s. 



CONSONANTS. 103 

B. 

B touches the hard-palate, comes down to tne 
roots of the lower teeth ; the lips are pressed to- 
gether all along the line, which pressure, being 
released, results in an explosion. This is for 
the inspired sound. For the expired sound, the 
same proceeding takes place, with the only dif- 
ference that the tip of the tongue rests against 
the root of the upper teeth. The circles, which 
the tongue describes, are but moderately large. 

P. 

For^> the same proceeding is gone through 
with as for &, only with increased vigor of 
movements. The latter are more rapid, the lips 
are pressed more firmly together, the tongue's 
tip reaches up higher, touching the soft-palate, 
and again lower down pressing against the bot- 
tom of the replica so as to create a larger space 
of confined air which, when released, causes a 
greater explosion through the suddenly parted 
lips than for b. The circles, of course, are 
also larger. 



104 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

M. 

M, the same as b and p, is a lip-sound. The 
tip of the tongue slightly touches first the upper 
edge of the lower teeth for the inspired, then 
the lower edge of the upper teeth for the ex- 
pired sound. "With each touch of the teeth the 
lips, which have been rather firmly closed all 
along the line, are released, not suddenly as for 
b and p, but with a slower movement. The 
sound comes through the nose. The circles are 
about the same as for b. 

N. 

JV is produced in a similar manner to in. The 
difference is that the teeth are closed, where the 
lips were in the former case. The sound comes 
through the nose. The circles are larger than 
for m. 

D. 

D is produced by the tip of the tongue and 
the teeth ; the former touches the lower teeth 
first, then the upper. The tongue's tip describes 
but a small circle. 



CONSONANTS. 105 

T. 

T is produced by the tip of the tongue and 
the teeth, the same as d. The former touches 
the root of the lower teeth first, then that of the 
upper. The touch is higher up and lower down 
than for fZ, and is far more distinct. It is of 
shorter duration than for d, being quicker and 
more decided. 

Th (sharp). 

Th sharp, as in "thorn," "three," etc., is 
produced by the tongue's tip passing through 
the almost closed teeth. While in this position 
it first touches the lower teeth, then the upper, 
oscillating between them. The air passing 
through this narrow aperture, first inwardly 
then outwardly, with a quick movement, pro- 
duces the well-known sound of sharp th. 

Although the tongue appears to be con- 
tinuously inserted between the teeth, during the 
production of this sound, it really disappears 
between these movements. During this dis- 
appearance it describes a circular movement in 
the oral cavity, by which the sound, which is 



106 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

inhaled, is connected with that which is exhaled. 
The sound, which also appears to be continuous, 
is really interrupted, likewise, for a moment, 
during which this circular movement is being 
carried out. 

Th (soft). 

For th, as in "the," "that," " though," 

etc., the same movements are gone through 
with as for sharp t/t, but the teeth are further 
apart, the tongue's tip does not pass so far in 
between them, and the circles are smaller. The 
lips are not so far apart, nor are the teeth shown 
as much as for sharp ///. 

The movements of the lips can be closely 
watched for sharp th. The upper lip is with- 
drawn first, then the lower, next the upper, and 
finally the lower again. This is assuming that 
the sound is repeated twice, which, in fact, it is 
every time it is pronounced. 

The th sound comes next to that of r, in the dif- 
ficulty of its execution by foreigners. The same 
being unknown to other European languages 
except the Spanish, it is a great stumbling-block 



CONSONANTS. 107 

to the foreign tongue. Yet its execution is not 
any more difficult than that of almost any other 
consonant. The trouble is that its mode of pro- 
duction has heretofore never been accurately 
described. 

F. 

F, for its inspired sound, is produced by the 
lower lip reaching up to the upper teeth. While 
the tongue's tip touches the lower teeth, the air 
is drawn in above the tongue through a slight 
opening between the lower lip and the upper 
teeth. For its expired sound the tip of the 
tongue touches the upper teeth, the air being 
forced out between the raised lip and the lower 
side of the tongue. 

V. 

1ms produced in the same manner as/*. The 
difference consists in lip and teeth meeting less 
closely, and the tip of the tongue touching the 
teeth more lightly. The air is not set in such 
quick motion, and the sound is produced with 
less force. 



108 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

The circles for v are, of course, smaller than 
they are for/* 

S. 

S is produced by the teeth coming close to- 
gether, the tip of the tongue first touching the 
lower and then the upper teeth near their edge, 
the air being first inspired and then expired with 
a hissing sound. 

c. 

C is the same as s, only carried out with less 
force throughout, and the tongue's tip not 
touching the teeth near their edge but at their 
roots. 

z. 

Z is a still milder way of going through the 
same performance. All the movements are 
carried out in the softest manner possible, and 
the tongue's tip touching the gums of the teeth 
instead of their edge as for s, or their roots as 
for c. 

L. 

For I the tip of the tongue vibrates between 



CONSONANTS. 109 

the upper and lower teeth, which come pretty 
close together. Each vibration means one in- 
spiration and one expiration. Each vibration, 
of course, also stands for one circle up and one 
down, which the tongue describes through the 
oral cavity, the circles being large. 



II is equal to a quick inspiration followed by 
a strong and long continued expiration. There 
is an expiration, however, preceding the inspira- 
tion, so as to insure a full volume of air being 
inspired, which in turn again insures the strong 
expiration, which carries the sound. The cir- 
cles are large. 

Y. 

There is a great similarity between y and h, 
both being produced by strong aspirations only, 
and without any touch, the same as the vowels. 
The difference is that for h all the avenues are 
kept wide open, while for y they are drawn close 
together, leaving but a narrow channel for the 
air to pass through. Again, for h there is an ex- 



110 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

piration, an inspiration and an expiration, while 
for y there is an inspiration, an expiration and an 
inspiration. The stress is on the expiration for h, 
and on the inspiration for y, making the former 
an expired and the latter an inspired sound. 
For the inspired y sound, the body of the tongue 
closely approaches the roof of the mouth, while 
for the expired sound it comes very near to the 
floor of the mouth, the air pressing through these 
narrow openings, first inwardly, and then out- 
wardly. 

G (soft). 

G in "George," "gipsy," etc., is composed 
of d and y, with the air-channels still more 
closely compressed, however, than for y alone. 

w. 

TF, double u, or, more strictly speaking, 
double <9, is composed of these vowels, oo, com- 
bined with an open v, the vowel sound vibrating 
through this consonant making it an open sound 
very much like a vowel. 

This attempt at a description of the consonant 



CONSONANTS. Ill 

sounds is only correct in a general sense ; nor is 
it a full description, in any sense. There are 
many consonants, which are not represented by 
the sign of a letter, and whose existence can 
only be made clear to the eye, by showing them 
up in their combination with other sounds. 
These varieties I shall not attempt to describe. 
Incomplete, however, as this description of the 
construction of the consonant sounds may be, 
it probably comes nearer to the facts than any 
that has yet been attempted. 

Besides, the relationship existing between 
consonants and vowels is so close that it is diffi- 
cult to separate the one from the other. This 
relationship I shall endeavor to describe more 
minutely, when I shall reach the vowel sounds. 

Then there is the important question of the 
impetus given to the different consonants. There 
are those whose impetus is toward inspiration, 
those whose impetus is toward expiration, and 
those which vary between the two. 

I have found that the impetus of consonants 
whose principal sound is produced by a strong 
impact of the tip of the tongue with the replica, 



112 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

causing an explosion above the tongue, as hard 
g, £, qu, a? ? j, y, hard c, and r, are mainly in- 
spired as the tongue first rises, and then falls 
for them. Those whose main sound is produced 
by impact of the tip of the tongue with the roof 
of the mouth, as^, /, n, p 7 t, s, all of which re- 
quire more or less compression, and a propor- 
tionate explosion of air beneath the tongue, are 
mainly outgoing sounds, asthe tongue first falls 
and then rises for them. That is, their main 
sound is expired, while in the former case it 
is inspired. The impact of the tip of the 
tongue with the lower gum means the rising of 
the back of the tongue, creating a narrow pas- 
sage between the latter and the soft-palate, 
through which the air streams inwardly, while 
an impact of the tip of the tongue with the roof 
of the mouth means a compression downward, 
creating a narrow passage between the lower 
side of the tongue and the lower gum, through 
which the air passes outwardly. 

There now remain the consonants h, d, m, v, 
to, z. 

These are of a medium calibre. Their sound 



CONSONANTS. 113 

is neither distinctly ingoing nor outgoing, but it 
varies according to their position. As a rule, 
when they are initial sounds, it is ingoing, when 
they are final, it is outgoing. 

In this connection I have also made the fol- 
lowing observation : "We say : b, c, d, g, p, t, 
v, z. Again we say : f, Z, m, n, <§, x, h. In 
the first instance, the vowel sound e follows, 
while in the last it precedes the sound of the 
consonant. 

The same order obtains with the alphabets of 
most civilized tongues. There must be a deep 
significance in this. We could not reverse this 
order of things, and say : ib, ic, id, ig, ip, it, 
iv, izj nor could we say : fe, le, me, ne, se, 
without making an effort in doing so. The rea- 
son is, that the most natural way of speaking is 
by inspiration, followed by expiration; the 
vow T el sound at the end in the first instance, and 
at the beginning in the second, securing this re- 
sult. 

When we say : b, c, d, etc. , the long e is an 
outgoing sound. This makes the consonant sound 
preceding it ingoing. While, when we say : 



114 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

y, Z, m, n, etc., the e preceding the consonant 
is ingoing, being short and inhaled ; this makes 
the consonant following outgoing. 

In speaking of the impetus of a sound being 
ingoing or outgoing, I must still remark that 
the same is identical with the last manner of 
breathing for such sound ; that is, while there 
are three inspirations and three expirations as a 
minimum for such sound, the last one of these 
six, or twelve, or eighteen, carries with it the 
sound proper and is prolonged in so doing. If 
this last breathing is ingoing, then the sound is 
ingoings if it is outgoing, then the sound is 
outgoing. 

No sound can be uttered all by itself as 
either ingoing or outgoing. The ingoing sound 
must be accompanied by an outgoing sound, 
though ever so weak, and the outgoing must be 
accompanied by an ingoing, though ever so 
weak; the weakness of the one giving an im- 
petus to the other. It gives the other an op- 
portunity to gather strength, and be produced 
with full force. 

The "ethics" of sound, if I maybe permitted 



CONSONANTS. 115 

to use such an expression, demand that inspira- 
tion and expiration for vowels should follow one 
another in such a manner as to enable them to 
embrace the consonants with ease, and to carry 
them along with a graceful movement. 

This is what is called the cadence, the rhyth- 
mical modulation of the voice. It is, therefore, 
necessary that consonants should follow one an- 
other in such a manner that these "ethics" can 
be successfully carried out. 

An ingoing consonant should follow one that 
is outgoing, and vice versa ; and a mute should 
always be embraced between two semi-vowels, 
or two vowels, or a semi-vowel and a vowel. 
Persons, whose style is good, or who write good 
poetry, follow this rule instinctively. Those 
who write a bad or hard style, sin against it con- 
tinually. 

The fact is, that each word by itself, with 
very rare exceptions, is constructed in strict con- 
formity with this rule. It is by joining one 
word on to another, not in harmony therewith 
— that is, one for which we do not breathe in 
proper sequence with the preceding or succeeding 



116 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

one — that the most flagrant sins against style or 
rhythm are committed. 

The law underlying: it all is the one which 
makes breathing for speech easy. As soon as 
there is a demand made on the voice for either 
too many expirations or too many inspirations 
following each other in close succession, and 
without giving the speaker an opportunity to 
recuperate his breath — that is, to bring it back 
to an equilibrium by restoring the air, which was 
' ' held ' ' at the proper time and place — the voice 
becomes strained, and thus loses its power for 
uttering rhythmical sounds. This "proper time 
and place" is at the end of a sentence. 

While Ilelmholtz has given to the world 
valid reasons for the necessity of musical sounds 
following one another in certain scales and in- 
tervals, to produce harmony in music, no one 
has, as yet, touched upon the reasons why vocal 
sounds should follow one another in a given 
order, to produce music in speech or song. 

There is a very important point in connection 
with consonant sounds which I omitted to men- 
tion before. The tip of the tongue, to which 



CONSONANTS. 117 

is assigned as important a rule in the production 
of sound as there is to the tip of the fingers for 
the sensation of feeling, assumes different 
shapes for the production of various sounds. 
As a rule, these shapes, for the production of 
English sounds, are far more positive than they 
are for German sounds. For the latter, it 
touches the oral cavity, or the lower gum, but 
lightly, and does not assume such decided shapes 
that they could be readily described. To pro- 
duce correct English speech, this state of indif- 
ference is changed into one of decided energy. 
To produce the I' sound, it comes to a sharp 
point, something like the toes of a dancer, Avhen 
resting her entire body on the same. After this 
shape has been assumed, it ' ' kicks' ' the lloor 
of the mouth for inspiration and again its roof 
for expiration, with a quick but very positive 
movement. 

For r, although it retains this shape, it is 
more relaxed, and trails along the roof of the 
mouth for expiration, and along its floor for in- 
spiration. 

For I the tongue's tip is less rigid still, and 



118 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

its shape is some what bent ; for the lower sound, 
it is bent upward; for the upper, downward. 

For m it is bent down for both sounds, while 
its entire front takes a firm hold in the ring of 
the palate for the expired sound, and again in 
that of the lower gum for the inspired sound. 

The same shape of the tip of the tongue pre- 
vails for /( , t, ]). 

The less strain there is on a sound, the more 
relaxed will be the tip of the tongue. This is a 
point to which foreigners must pay attention, if 
they want to produce English sounds with that 
energy which is so characteristic of them. 

The main reason for the various shapes 
assumed by the tip of the tongue is to enable 
the front of the tongue to become firmly sealed 
against -the wall of the oral cavity, and thus to 
create an air-tight compartment previous to an 
explosion of air for sounds which are to be loud 
and positive. For Aveaker sounds, this hold is 
more or less relaxed. 



SOUND AND NERVES. 



"^OES tliis impact, of which I have just 
^^^ spoken, not mean more, however, than 
simply a mechanical action to concentrate the air 
above or beneath the tongue's tip, which, upon 
being released, creates an explosion? Would 
that and the other mechanical actions of which 
I have spoken suffice in bringing about all the 
shadings of the consonant sounds? 

And who would seriously want to say that 
these sounds are, in reality, nothing but noises, 
that there is no soul in them ? 

Is it necessary to give examples? Every word 
spoken with an emphasis will show to the con- 
trary. For is there nothing in the th or n in 
"thunder," when used as an exclamation of 
surprise or impatience? or in the I of " love," 
when addressing your bride, etc. ? 

While I concede to the vowels the first place 
in conveying the meaning of our soul, the con- 
sonants are by no means devoid of such mean- 
ing. 

(119) 



120 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

I have heretofore spoken of the " air-chan- 
nels" into which, by mechanical means, the 
"air-sparks, " as I call them, are drawn — those 
swift, meteoric currents of air which produce 
sound — not only sounds, so called, as repre- 
sented by a note or a letter, but all the rami- 
fications of sounds connected with each of these 
sounds. Each ramification represents one of 
these sparks, purposely inspired, or expired for 
the same. Their action is so swift, and, at the 
same time, so irregular, that it would be neces- 
sary to invent a new mode of counting time, 
should we be called upon to give an account 
of it. 

Just what the air-passages are, into which the 
air-sparks are drawn, or from which they 
emerge, I cannot say, nor how the air reaches 
them through the trachea or the oesophagus. I 
am of the opinion, however, that they are dif- 
fused throughout a large area of our body, the 
same almost as the nerves are. They stand in 
intimate relation to the latter. Thus only can 
we, account for the emotional nature of out- 
voice. 



SOUND AND NERVES. 121 

They are nerves which become audible, when 
the air they contain is set in motion, or, more 
properly speaking, perhaps, when a stream of 
air is passed through them. This might be 
modified again by saying that there are nerves 
through whose action a particular air- channel is 
expanded or contracted. These nerves, while so 
acting, at the same time impart to the sound, 
thereby created, its spiritual, emotional char- 
acter. 

There are knots in which these sound-nerves 
centre, and it is not impossible that one of these 
may be located between the eyes, where it is 
supposed by many that the "voice comes from. " 

There are" other knots, but I am not yet pre- 
pared to speak of them with sufficient intel- 
ligence. 

The ' 'air-channels and nerves' ' are of so sub- 
tle a nature that their very existence has so far 
eluded the close scrutiny of investigators. It 
seems, though, as if the nerves which carry the 
intelligence, and those which enable us to hear, 
come to a focus at the tip of the tongue, from 
which, as messengers from the brain and the ear, 



122 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

they impart their missives by impact to certain 
points of the palate, whispering to them what 
they must do. The instant the tip of the tongue 
touches these points, the nerves ending there 
carry out these commands. 

All this relates to the consonant sounds. But 
how about the vowels ? There being no impact, 
how is the intelligence imparted for them ? I 
cannot even venture to guess. That the nerves 
for them centre in the vocal cord and lip, I feel 
well assured ; and I can only assume, in default 
of any mechanical action, that there are agents 
at work even subtler than the nerves which act 
as mediators between them and the mind, as 
well as our power of hearing. 

While we draw the air into the air-channels 
mechanically, it is not thence converted into 
sound without the interference of the sound- 
nerves, which give character to the sound, as, 
of course, no mere mechanical action would be 
able to do. 

It is a great mistake, therefore, when speak- 
ing of the voice, to say : " It is simply a musical 
instrument like any other. " " Simple, ' ' in- 



SOUND AND NERVES. 123 

deed ! Even mechanically speaking, , it is not 
one but a dozen instruments fused into one, and 
possessing the main qualities of all these. When 
it comes to the higher qualities, however, those 
imparted to it by the soul, we stand, as ever, be- 
fore an inscrutable mystery. 

Our attempts at creating sounds by musical 
instruments, though these sounds may be pleasing 
to our ear (so is a painted landscape to our eye) 
as compared with the voice, are but of a crude 
nature, both as to the manner of their produc- 
tion and as to the product itself, even though 
from a mere artistic standpoint they may reach 
the highest point of excellence. 

I am not as yet prepared to enter the field in 
explanation of the vowel sounds, and their rela- 
tion to the construction of the consonant sounds, 
with sufficient intelligence to do so at the 
present moment. I am already in possession of a 
good deal of material, however, as a basis for 
such an exposition, and I shall endeavor to bring 
it into shape, as soon as I shall be able to do so. 
Meantime, I have thought it best to publish 
what I have already written out, having waited 



124 VOCAL UTTERANCE. 

a great many years before I thought I had suf- 
ficient light on the subject to venture out 
with it. 

This, I trust, will be of some benefit, though 
there is still much to be said, which is of im- 
portance to the better understanding and devel- 
opment of the voice. 

In this connection I beg to mention with 
grateful acknowledgment that Mr. Edgar S. 
Werner, from the very beginning of my ac- 
quaintance with him, has listened to the recital 
of my investigations with the most appreciative 
kindness. It is also with his advice and consent, 
that I have postponed the publication of the 
rest of my investigations until they shall have 
attained a more perfect shape than they have at 
the time of this writing. 






■ 




W< 



J&i 



sgfff 





>*» 



